By Kaya 959 Reporter
The United Kingdom (UK) has officially removed South Africa from its red list.
The tourism sector welcomed the news that SA will be one of 11 countries removed from the list on Wednesday, December 15.
UK officials put South Africa back on its red list in November after the country discovered the new Omicron variant.
The UK’s Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, says there is now community transmission of the Omicron variant across the world. This has made the travel red list less effective.
“Whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4am tomorrow morning,” he says.
All inbound travellers will be required to take either a PCR or rapid lateral flow test at least 48 hours before travelling.
Wahida Parker, managing director of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company, is pleased with the news.
“News that South Africa will be removed from the UK’s list of restricted travel destinations is good news, and right in the nick of time.”
📢TRAVEL UPDATE
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) December 14, 2021
From 4am on Weds 15 Dec, ALL 11 countries will be removed from England's travel red 🔴 list #Internationaltravel (1/3)
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Ineffective travel bans
City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, James Vos, welcomed the announcement.
“Britain is a key source market for Cape Town in terms of both travel and trade. It is now time for other governments across the globe to follow Britain’s lead and stop these ineffective travel bans. We need global solidarity to beat this virus. South Africa has played its part and the rest of the world should reward and not punish us for doing so,” he says.
Euan McNeil, Managing Director Flight Centre Travel Group South Africa, adds: “We are simply delighted that reason and fact have prevailed and that travel between South Africa and the UK is once again open.”
Association Of Southern African Travel Agents CEO, Otto de Vries, says the travel bans imposed on South Africa were nothing short of devastating for the travel industry.
“Forward bookings collapsed with feedback from the industry suggesting that bookings until mid-February 2022 were severely impacted.”
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