On Thursday, June 3 the United Kingdom government announced an updated Green List of countries which UK travellers can visit, depending on local restrictions, and not self-isolate on their return to the UK.
The Canary Islands’ Minister for Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Yaiza Castilla, is disappointed with yesterday’s announcement which kept the Canary Islands on the UK’s amber list. UK travellers are advised not to travel to amber list countries. Individuals returning to the UK from amber list countries are currently required to quarantine for 10 days take a COVID-19 test on or before day two and on or after day eight.
Minister Yaiza Castilla explains, “The UK tourism industry and citizens want to fly to the Islands, but we must be prudent and not take for granted all the work done by making a hasty decision.”
The Minister recalled that “The Canary Islands are one of the favorite destinations of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom and, in fact, the Archipelago accounted for 7% of British vacations in 2019”.
Despite the importance of British tourism for the Canary Islands, the Minister called for caution, “We understand that the Government of Boris Johnson has before it a strong dilemma, since the tourism industry and citizens are eager to travel to the archipelago again, while British scientists ask the Executive to stop de-escalation plans in the presence of the Indian variant, which already accounts for 3 out of every 4 new cases in the country”.
With its low COVID-19 infection rate, Minister Castilla is hopeful that this classification will change to allow UK tourists to travel to the Canary Islands in the main summer months. The Green List is due to be reviewed again in three weeks’ time. For this reason, the Minister of Tourism once again requested the responsibility of all Canarian citizens when it comes to complying with security protocols.
Castilla explains, “We must keep the virus at bay, as we are convinced that as soon as the Canary Islands are included in the United Kingdom’s green list, there will be a strong rebound in travel demand as the demand contained so far will be unleashed. and both airlines and tour operators will substantially expand capacity to the Archipelago”.