LONDON
\nBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that he wanted to get the travel industry moving again with a simple user-friendly system to allow for trips abroad without importing new variants of the coronavirus.
\n\u201cWe need to get people, get the travel industry moving again,\u201d Johnson told reporters. \u201cWe want an approach that is as simple as we can possibly make it.\u201d
\nBritain has double vaccinated a higher proportion of its population against COVID-19 than most other countries, but the government has prevented travel to many destinations by imposing rules that the travel industry says are hobbling the economy.
\nJohnson\u2019s travel regulations have angered some of Britain\u2019s European allies, frustrated millions of sun-seeking Britons and brought warnings from airports, airlines and tour companies.
\nIn a letter to Johnson that was leaked to media, finance minister Rishi Sunak called for an urgent easing of travel restrictions.
\nThe Times newspaper reported that Britain planned to warn holidaymakers against visiting popular tourist destinations such as Spain because of concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
\nSuch a step could trigger an exodus of about a million British tourists already abroad, cause further damage to the travel sector and deal a new blow to southern Europe\u2019s summer tourist season.
\nA spokesperson for Britain\u2019s transport ministry declined to comment on The Times report, published on the day when rules were eased for double-vaccinated travelers from the United States and most of Europe.
\nUnder rules to be reviewed on Thursday, double-vaccinated travelers can return without quarantining from countries rated \u201camber\u201d on a \u201ctraffic-light\u201d list assessing the COVID-19 risk.
\nThose returning from red-list countries \u2014 the most severe risk \u2014 must pay 1,750 pounds ($2,436) to spend 10 days in a hotel.
\nAn amber watchlist was due to be signed off on Thursday but a split in the government could delay a decision, The Times said.
\nCiting the threat posed by the Beta coronavirus variant, England has maintained quarantine rules for double-vaccinated travelers from France, while scrapping the requirement for travelers from other medium-risk \u201camber\u201d countries.
\nFrance has complained, saying the bulk of its Beta variant cases come from the island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that he wanted to get the travel industry moving again with a simple user-friendly system to allow for trips abroad without importing new variants of the coronavirus. \u201cWe need to get people, get the travel industry moving again,\u201d Johnson told reporters. \u201cWe want an approach that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n