M L TRAVEL
IS IT RED , AMBER OR GREEN ? By Nicola Palmer , Perfect Getaways
The ban on international travel from the UK for leisure purposes was lifted on 17th May and whilst this was heavily welcomed by all the travel industry and holidaymakers alike , the initial list of countries you can travel to on holiday still remains extremely limited .
The government has brought in a traffic light system that will be reviewed every three weeks and details countries they deem to be on the green , amber and red list . Any countries that are on the amber and red list cannot be visited for leisure purposes , so we are very much concentrating on green list countries .
The current green list of countries from 17th May are Australia , Brunei , Falkland Islands , Faroe Islands , Gibraltar , Iceland , Israel , New Zealand , Portugal ( including the Azores and Madeira ), Singapore , South Georgia , South Sandwich Islands , St Helena , Ascension and Tristan da Cunha .
A number of these countries are not currently allowing UK citizens to enter so the list is further shortened . In addition , there are a number of rules when returning back to England from a green list country .
Before travel to England
• You must take a COVID-19 test
• You must book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test
• You must complete a passenger locator form
On arrival in England
• You must take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive .
• You do not need to quarantine unless the test result is positive .
• You must follow these rules even if you have been vaccinated .
A number of the major tour operators are heavily discounting the 2 day COVID-19 tests to entice holidaymakers to travel .
The standout green list destination that has seen a huge spike in bookings in the last week is Portugal . With constant flights from across the country by all the major tour operators , Portugal has taken advantage of being pretty much the only popular holiday destination that holidaymakers can travel to in the first wave from 17th May .
We will all be waiting patiently for the next announcement to come into effect on 7th June when hopefully all of the major tourist destinations will be added to the green list and everyone can have their summer holidays that they deserve .
60 merseylife . com