An Abta spokesperson said: “The removal of Italy from the travel corridors list is a major blow for many winter operators in the UK travel industry, and again demonstrates that travel businesses are effectively being forced to close by the government’s measures to control coronavirus - yet, unlike other sectors such as hospitality, travel has received no sector specific support.

“As the furlough scheme winds down, it is vital that the government focuses on restarting travel and that tailored support is made available for travel businesses. Recovery of travel depends on the urgent introduction of a testing regime, which will provide an additional mitigation to keep destinations open, as well as fully regionalised travel corridors, and a move back to country specific foreign travel advice. 

“Without these measures, we will continue to see travel businesses failing and tens of thousands more jobs will be lost.”

Lucio Furlani, head of tourism for Courmayeur Mont Blanc, Italian Alps, added: "It is a great disappointment to hear that Italy has been omitted from the UK’s list of air bridge agreements. 

“As a high-end ski resort, Courmayeur receives a huge number of bookings from British guests each year, so we hope that these quarantine restrictions will not be in place too long. 

“As the ski season was cut so short this year, we have had a lot of time to prepare for the re-opening our slopes this December and have already ironed out the various hygiene and safety measures which will be in place. 

“Skiing is a wonderful sport which lends itself well to social distancing, so we look forward to welcoming back our UK guests for an active holiday spent in the clean alpine air as soon as possible."