The changes, hinted at by Boris Johnson at lunchtime on Monday (24 January), were later confirmed in the House of Commons by transport secretary Grant Shapps, who said it was time to "liberalise" the rules governing international travel after nearly two years of stringent curbs.

While there was widespread positivity throughout travel on Monday in response to the announcements, Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said said the developments were "only one piece of the jigsaw" while UKinbound chief executive Joss Croft said travel wasn’t yet out of the woods.

Alistair Rowland, chief executive of Blue Bay Travel and chair of Abta, said the announcement would boost consumer confidence. "The removal of the final testing measure in England for vaccinated travellers and the relaxing of isolation rules for unvaccinated travellers are major steps towards bringing the joy back to travel again.

"Many countries are still requiring travellers to be fully vaccinated, but destinations including Mexico, Dubai and the Dominican Republic will accept non-vaccinated holidaymakers. The removal of pre-departure testing in early January was received positively and we saw a surge in bookings. We expect this news to give bookings a further boost.”

Croft said the change in tack would come as a "huge relief" to England’s tourism industry and show England is "truly open for business for the first time in almost two years". "Inbound tourism businesses can start trading their way to recovery," he said. “Additionally, we hope to see the aligning of international restrictions across all four nations in the coming days. International visitors often visit more than one country when here in the UK, which is why a four-nations approach to reopening is very important."

However, Croft added the industry, particularly the inbound sector, couldn’t afford to be complacent. "We are not out of the woods yet," he continued. "Inbound tourism businesses are counting the cost of survival with rising debt and staffing issues. To bolster recovery, we need government to put in place targeted support which will bolster demand and encourage international visitors to spend their money on a holiday to the UK, rather than elsewhere."

‘Gruelling 18 months’

Travel Network Group chief executive Gary Lewis hailed Monday’s announcement "a significant moment for the industry and another positive step on the road to recovery", while echoing Croft’s caution. "We’ve already seen the green shoots of growth as holidaymakers look with confidence to booking a holiday in 2022 and this is another shot in the arm. Confidence is returning and, although we’re not yet out of the woods, this is welcome news for our industry.”

Like Croft, Julia Simpson, president and chief executive of the WTTC, said she hoped there would be a four-nations approach to the new travel rules, adding it was time to ditch passenger locator forms.

"There is no longer any need for testing, and we urge ministers across the UK and countries around the world to follow England’s lead and allow the fully vaccinated to travel freely," said Simpson. “After a gruelling 18 months for the UK travel and tourism sector, this will provide a massive boost to businesses up and down the country. We hope it will also see the end of the unnecessary passenger locator forms.”