Boris Johnson has confirmed that pre-departure travel Covid-19 tests to enter England from overseas will be scrapped from 7 January. The Prime Minister also added the requirement to self-isolate on arrival in England until receiving a negative PCR test result will also be lifted.

Instead people can take a lateral flow test on day two – and if it is positive a further PCR test will be needed to identify any new variants, plus isolation as normal.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and UKinbound have welcomed the government’s decision to remove pre-departure tests for travellers and replace damaging Day 2 PCR testing with antigen tests.

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “The removal of pre-departure tests and replacing Day 2 PCRs with more affordable antigen testing will significantly boost the UK Travel & Tourism sector and help both it and the whole UK economy recover much faster than expected. The testing measures being removed never actually stopped infections coming in and were a blunt policy which only damaged the travel and tourism sector.”

Joss Croft, UKinbound CEO, said: “The industry will be very pleased to see the removal of onerous pre-departure testing, and the replacement of the day 2 PCR test with a lateral flow test. However, this is not job done. January to March is a key booking period for inbound travel and if we are to ensure the successful revival of the UK’s valuable inbound tourism industry, our 5th largest export sector, worth £28 billion to the UK economy in 2019, then the government needs to provide a clear roadmap for the removal of all travel restrictions and to signal that the UK will be fully open for business.”