Back to Press Releases

WTTC Responds to the Latest Announcement From the UK Government

Julia Simpson, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), said:

“The Travel & Tourism sector has been rocked by the pandemic losing 62m jobs globally. We are pleased to see the back of an illogical traffic light system that caused confusion and distress for travellers. This move to ease restrictions and open up more key destinations, will help restore consumer confidence and get the UK moving again.

“We’re also happy to see that the government has listened to our calls, with double vaccinated travellers no longer needing to take pre-departure tests, and that antigen tests will replace costly PCRs before the end of the busy half term holiday season.

“While this is certainly a step in the right direction, for the UK to be real leaders, the government should adopt a system based on the risk of individuals, not countries. Placing whole countries on red lists is illogical, if you can keep the UK safe by checking an individual's status, and allowing fully jabbed people to travel almost anywhere in the world safely.”