The number of green-list holiday destinations looks set to grow next week, with popular holiday spots Germany and Italy leading the race for promotion.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is expected to announce the next round of changes to the Government’s traffic light travel system next week, to be implemented on August 9.
Industry experts have begun to speculate which nations could be in line to be moved from the amber to the green list, with one claiming he has “reverse engineered” the algorithm used by The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) to rate countries. Robert Boyle, a former BA strategist, predicts Germany and Italy, as well as Austria, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia are in the running to get the green light for summer holidays.
Likewise, Paul Charles, the chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, also rates Germany and Italy’s chances, alongside Canada, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.
The Telegraph understands that 77 countries are under review by government scientists for a possible move, however Government sources warned that many might not make the cut once the assessment had been completed.
However, hopes remain high for both Germany and Italy, where cases are impressively low compared to other popular European destinations, at 13.39 per 100,000 and 51.28 respectively. By contrast the rate in Spain is 385.42 and in Greece it’s 180.65 – both nations are at risk of joining France on the ‘amber plus’ list.
“Many destinations have been deserving of greater green status for some weeks so, while welcome, these upgrades are also long overdue,” said Charles.
Originally Appeared On: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/covid-travel-news-vaccine-holidays-amber-plus-france-us-spain/