Covid-19: UK slashes travel red list and bookings surge

The UK government has announced significant changes to its red travel list. Photo / Belinda Fewings, Unsplash

UK's travel red list has been cut from 54 to just seven countries in a recent announcement.

South Africa, Mexico and Brazil are amongst the 37 destinations that have been removed and will have vaccination status certificates recognised.

Fully-vaccinated travellers arriving into the UK from these countries can avoid more expensive post-arrival testing and the self-funded 10-day quarantine, as long as they have not visited a red-list country 10 days before arrival.

Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic remain on the red list.

According to the Scottish government, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were all in agreement on the changes.

However, the decision was not without concerns. The Welsh government said the change increased the risk for new variants and infections but said it was impractical to have their own border policy.

The change, which commences on Monday, is the latest step to revive travel according to UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

Along with the shorter red list, the government announced they were also working to change requirements for arrival testing.

Currently, all travellers are required to take expensive PCR tests on the second day of their arrival, and the eighth day if they aren't fully vaccinated. According to the Sunday TImes, the average test costs £75 -140 (NZ$147 - 275).

A government source said they aimed to replace this with a cheaper lateral flow test by the end of October.

The news was widely celebrated by Airlines and the travel industry.

A spokesperson for London's Heathrow Airport told the BBC the upcoming changes would "kick start a global Britain".

Already, travel agencies in South Africa have been overwhelmed by the number of people researching travel to the UK.

One of South Africa's biggest travel agencies, Flight Centre, said it was struggling to keep up with demand since the UK government announced the lift on restrictions.

Managing director Andrew Start told the Associated Press things had been "pretty manic" the minute after the announcement was made.

"We see this as most source markets open up, the following day we are inundated, we just cannot keep up with the demand, to be honest," he said.

As South Africa's largest international tourism market, the UK provides over 400,000 tourists each year. As a result of the pandemic, that number has dropped to less than 10,000 so far this year.

The destination's warm weather is a big advantage for Brits heading into winter said Rosemary Anderson the chairperson of hospitality association FEDHASA.

"We are going into summer, the UK is going towards autumn and many British people have not been able to travel to sunny places, so that makes South Africa a great destination for them," she said.

The 22 other African countries on Britain's red list have also been removed, leaving Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic as the final seven countries on the list.