ABTA says the new ‘test to release’ scheme will “help to make overseas travel more attractive and manageable for both holidaymakers and business travellers” and hopes that the scheme will soon be rolled out across Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales too.
Currently the scheme only applies to England.
Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of ABTA – The Travel Association said: “The test to release scheme in England should help to make overseas travel more attractive and manageable for both holidaymakers and business travellers.
“We know that Foreign Office advice and quarantine requirements are major impediments to travel, and there is an urgent need to remove these barriers as fast as is compatible with the Government’s domestic health strategy. The outbound travel industry has been hit early and hard by the pandemic and we hope that test to release will help get people travelling once again.
“There is still more work to be done to get more people travelling and to support the recovery of the sector, including having a testing scheme in place for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the Government moving to a regional approach to quarantine and travel advice. It is important that the test to release scheme is kept under review, to make sure that advancements in testing are used to further reduce quarantine to as short a period as possible.”
