The resumption of US-UK travel makes sense economically. Over the years, there’s a steady increase of inbound travelers from the US to the UK. In 2009, 2.73 million visitors arrived from the US to the UK. By 2017, it has peaked at 4.63 million. As the UK resumes its leisure travel by May 17, travel-related businesses in the US and the UK are excited about whether or not the US will make it on the green list. Unfortunately, the US only made it on the amber list.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps announced Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Iceland, South Georgia, and St. Helena to be included in the green list. Other countries included in the green list are Gibraltar, The Falkland Islands, and the Faroe Islands. According to Shapps, “Today marks the first step in our cautious return to international travel”.
He added that “This is a new way of doing things and people should expect travel to be different this summer—with longer checks at the borders, as part of tough measures to prevent new strains of the virus entering the country and putting our fantastic vaccine rollout at risk”.
So what’s the difference between the green and the amber list? For travelers visiting countries on the green list, they will not have to quarantine once they return to the UK. However, they still need to do COVID19 tests before and after the trip. As part of the amber list, UK tourists will have to self-isolate for 10 days and pay for two PCR tests. Plus, it was advised that travelers shouldn’t travel for leisure on countries in red and amber list.
Pressure is Up
Though the US is not included in the initial green list, the pressure is on for both countries. The travel industry is calling for a travel corridor between the US and the UK.
With a meeting between President Biden and Prime Minister Johnson set for early June, it is still possible to see a travel corridor between the UK and the US by July.
