Is the green list enough to save tourism?

Will there be any new countries on the ‘green list’ when the latest revisions are announced tomorrow? Last time around there was expected to be some kind of relaxation – yet no countries were added to the green list. Instead, Portugal was removed and several countries were added to the red list. However, media minister John Whittingdale certainly seemed to hold hope when interviewed on the Today programme this morning, saying “hopefully it will be possible to increase that number [of countries]”.

It is hard to escape the conclusion that the government will face serious difficulties if it does not allow some relaxation. The travel industry is getting restive and some bodies are holding a day of action in London today. While outbound tourism might seem primarily to benefit foreign countries, it supports large numbers of jobs in Britain. According to a report by the Travel Association in 2017, outbound tourism is worth £16 billion to the UK economy and employs 221,000 jobs in Britain.