After Boris Johnson announced the green-listed countries that are safe to travel to quarantine-free, MPs are urging the Prime Minister to consider expanding the list so as to ensure survival of the travel industry.
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A £19billion loss
A study by a cross-party group has predicted the UK economy to take a £19billion hit if it does not include more countries in its register of 'safe' travel destinations. When compared to pre-pandemic figures, the months of June, July and August brought in an average of £20.2billion in revenue.
But with only 12 countries making it to the green list, the revenue this year for those same three months is expected to be of a mere £1.1billion.
And now, MPs are desperately trying to sway Boris Johnson to relax the standards used to measure whether a country can be considered for travel or not.
More countries must be added
The only two European destinations that are deemed to be popular summer travel destinations are Portugal and Gibraltar which will not be sufficient to secure enough revenue to make up for the lack of options available to travel to. Tory MP Henry Smith, chairman of the Future of Aviation Group said:
Without a safe and fuller restart of international travel our economic recovery will have its brakes on and many businesses that have run on empty will be left in a desperate battle for survival.
Adding that:
It is vital that the Government use the first review point to bring forward a fuller list of safe green list countries.
Joss Croft, head of trade body UKinbound, said:
The hopes of a summer revival for inbound tourism, which sustains over 500,000 jobs, are looking bleak, especially with such a small number of countries on the green list.
