The changes, announced by Boris Johnson in parliament on Wednesday (5 January), will apply for fully vaccinated arrivals into the UK from 4am on Friday (7 January).
Those arriving in England will also only be required to take a lateral flow test, with the new rules seeing a return to the system adopted in October before the emergence of the Omicron variant.
Reacting to the changes, Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, said the move would “boost confidence” and help travel firms during the traditional peak booking period.
She said Advantage members were currently trading on average “about 50% of 2019 levels” and were beginning to see pent-up demand emerge after 20 months of “the toughest of trading conditions”.
However, Lo Bue-Said urged that in order to keep consumer confidence high – and help travel businesses recover – the public needed “a consistent approach from government” in how it handles travel policy and a further relaxing of travel restrictions.
“Travel will remain ever complex this year, but if the consumer can rely on less confusing government intervention, a continuation of a more flexible approach from travel suppliers, and the expertise of a human travel agent to help guide them through the booking process from take off to landing, I am hopeful we will see the industry start to finally bounce back,” she said.
Clive Wratten, chief executive of the Business Travel Association, echoed Lo Bue-Said, saying it was “imperative” the government followed up the new measures with “a robust plan” for dealing with future variants, one Wratten urged “does not mean closing our borders and strangling our sector once more”.
Abta boss Mark Tanzer said the announcements made were “potentially very positive” for the travel sector, but argued “damage had already been done” through restrictions and a lack of financial support for travel business unable to trade.
“We now hope to see confidence return as we enter what is usually the peak booking season for summer holidays. We would urge the Government to ensure greater stability in the international travel system, including avoiding similar disruption in future, to enable business to recover fully and to rebuild consumer confidence,” said Tanzer.
