‘Holiday at home’ tourism minister tells Brits as UK Government cautions against summer travel
The UK Government has against warned Brits against booking summer travel abroad, even as the vaccine rollout remains on target, in a sign that further restrictions on international travel will be unveiled next week.
Tourism minister Nigel Huddleston encouraged people to think about booking domestic stays instead.
Huddleston said that “caution is the name of the game” on foreign holidays. “Remember you can have a holiday in the UK as well and I encourage people to do that and plan for that as well,” he told Sky News.
International holidays are currently illegal and in the UK Government’s roadmap out of lockdown the earliest they could be allowed is 17 May.
However, recent lines from ministers warning against booking could be indicative that restrictions such as hotel quarantine, self-isolation periods and post-arrival testing will remain part of the travel experience throughout 2021.
A so-called travel taskforce has been set up in order to manage the risk of opening up international travel more widely without the increased risk of bringing Covid19 variants back into the UK.
Huddleston told LBC this morning: “We certainly realise people are desperately keen to get out to the beaches and get on holiday, but we’ll only open up that if we think it’s safe and, of course, the numbers in Europe are concerning at the moment.”
The taskforce is set to report back next Monday.