The majority of UK travellers who have summer holidays 2021 booked say they plan to travel regardless of regulations, and whether or not their chosen destination is on the green list or not.
New Research from international research and insights agency Perspectus Global states that 75% of UK residents who have trips abroad planned for summer 2021 are still happy to go, even if their chosen destination is not added to the green list in time.
The study also goes on to say that 24% of UK residents have already got a holiday booked to an amber destination – which will require them to self-isolate at home for 10 days after returning to the UK, as well as taking PCR tests on days two and days eight. They also have the option to take a test on day five which could see them released from isolation early, on receipt of a negative result.
It seems the key factors that are driving this desire for foreign travel include:
- Being fully vaccinated
- Wanting to get away for mental health reasons
- Seeing no reason to cancel their trip
- Finding the traffic light system confusing and unclear
There does seem to be a bit of divided opinion within the UK though, with nearly half of those UK residents who had not booked a foreign holiday saying that they thought it was irresponsible for people to travel to a country on the amber list.
These people that think it is irresponsible are considering the risks that are involved with travelling there, especially as the UK government has urged UK residents not to travel to amber list destinations unless it is for essential reasons.
Advice from the foreign office is also critical, as if they advise against travel to a certain country, you will be entitled to your money back from a package holiday provider. However, if you choose to ignore their advice and travel anyway, you could potentially invalidate your travel insurance, costing you a lot of money.
If a country is on the amber list, but the Foreign Office has not advised against travel there, then this can be confusing for holidaymakers as technically your holiday can go ahead so you would not be entitled to a refund and if you choose to cancel, you could lose out.
