Abta continues to press the government for greater clarity and consistency on travel despite the removal of pre-departure test requirements for vaccinated travellers from Monday.
Chief executive Mark Tanzer told Travel Weekly: “It’s not job done by any means.
“There are still 54 countries on the red list including some major destinations. We’re keeping the pressure on government to be upfront about why countries are on the red list. We also have the anomaly of Foreign Office [FCDO] advice.”
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The FCDO still advises against travel to about 100 countries despite lifting its advice against travel to Egypt, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan on Tuesday. Tanzer said: “The Maldives was the clearest example. The FCDO said its advice against travel was due to Covid. We’re trying to get it to explain. If you’re double-vaccinated and went to the Maldives, what was the risk?”
He added: “The Passenger Locator Form is still a bureaucratic obstacle. What is it intended to do? Is it going to be here for ever? What do we do with unvaccinated passengers?
“It’s clear there have to be measures in place for those unvaccinated, but what is the policy based on? Is it more dangerous to go to France than to Scotland [if unvaccinated]?
“The other thing is recognition of vaccines and certification. We have a patchwork across the world and it needs to be harmonised. There is a lot of work to be done on government policy and restrictions.”
Speaking at Global Travel Week in London on Monday, Abta director of industry relations Susan Deer said: “There could be situations where there is still a risk in a destination [and] we know the FCDO considers other criteria, for example the hospital capacity in a destination. But with 100 countries with advice against leisure travel, the time has come for a review of the risk assessments that underpin FCDO advice.”
Scotland confirmed it would align its test requirements with England last week and Wales followed suit on Monday although only in removing pre-departure tests. Welsh health minister Eluned Morgan said the UK government decision to replace day-two PCR tests for vaccinated travellers with lateral flow tests was “concerning”.
Tanzer said: “I wrote to all three first ministers urging them to coordinate across the UK. It’s unsustainable to have a different public health travel policy.”
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