Ahead of the half-term break, countries across Europe are loosening tourist regulations. Travel restrictions are being lifted for an expanding number of primary tourist locations. Rules are being slacked across Europe a week before half-term for many British families. This comes as competitive reopening gets underway, with states striving to revive their tourism sectors ahead of competitors.
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Portugal has lifted the requirement for vaccinated UK travellers to do a pre-departure test, as expected, while Morocco has reopened for the first time in 16 weeks. Greece has also removed the obligation for testing from fully vaccinated newcomers, however, it is about to consider vaccinations given more than seven months ago as outdated. The following are the most vital developments for fully vaccinated travellers:
Australia
According to the Prime Minister, the country will open to foreign tourists from February 21. However, Western Australia - Australia's largest state, will remain off-limits.
Greece
Travellers who can establish full vaccination status will be exempt from taking any pre-departure tests to enter Greece beginning Monday, February 7, 2022, according to the foreign office. Rules that expired at 6 a.m. today are still being quoted on the official Greek website.
Morocco
The tourist restriction has been lifted. According to the national tourist agency, passengers travelling to Morocco must present a vaccination pass and a negative PCR test result in less than 48 hours before boarding the airline.
Portugal
The requirement for a pre-departure test for fully vaccinated travellers has been eliminated with immediate effect.
UK
Post-arrival testing is no longer required for fully vaccinated passengers as of 4 a.m. on Friday, February 11. The passenger locator form will remain mandatory. Further, self-isolation is no longer needed for unvaccinated immigrants. Although a pre-departure test and post-arrival PCR will still be required.
While Britons can now plan holidays to these locations, the most popular tourist sites for UK travellers still have travel restrictions. Travel restrictions are still in place in Spain, France, and Italy. Spain would not accept any British tourists aged 12 or older who had not been adequately vaccinated, while France and Italy have strict entry criteria for vaccination-required areas, including vaccination validity time limits.
