The association on Friday (3 July) welcomed the announcement of the country’s first quarantine exemptions, Spain, France, Italy and Germany, with a full list of more than 50 countries exemptions expected to be published later on Friday.

"The government announcement today will be greeted with huge relief by the travel industry, which can now plan ahead and take summer holiday bookings," said an Abta spokesperson.

"Later today [Friday], we will receive the list of countries exempted from quarantine restrictions for passengers returning to England from 10 July and the FCO will set out exemptions for a number of destinations from its global advisory against ’all but essential’ international travel, with those changes coming into effect from tomorrow [Saturday].

"Travel businesses have been under enormous pressure since the start of the pandemic, and the industry can now start to meet customers’ pent-up appetite for travel. Getting the balance of health risk and economic risk is a difficult challenge, and we strongly support the government in taking this initiative."

Abta said it was now urgently awaiting clarity on the approaches taken by the UK’s devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It has also warned the sector must do everything in its power to inspire consumer confidence.

"There will be some changes to peoples’ travel experiences because of the health and safety measures in place to limit Covid-19, and it will be important going forward that customers speak to their travel provider so that they so they can book and travel with confidence," the spokesperson added.

"And, of course, continued access to overseas destinations depends on our keeping Covid infection and transmission rates low in this country, so everyone should continue to heed public health guidelines."