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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Neil Shaw

Foreign holidays may be allowed from May with Covid passports

Some countries may start accepting British holidaymakers as early as May - if they have a vaccine passport.

Greece is among the first nations to say it will welcome back tourists from Britain - if they can prove they have had the vaccine.

The Foreign Office, Department for Transport and Department of Health and Social Care are all reportedly working on options for foreign travel that may ask for such a document as a condition of entry.

British tourists will reportedly be allowed to travel to Greece from May if they can prove they've had a covid vaccination - reports Mirror Online.

Government officials have reportedly said to the Greek ministry of tourism that Britain’s vaccine programme is advanced enough that holidaymakers will 'save their lucrative summer season.'

According to The Times Grigoris Tasios, president of the Greek hoteliers federation, said: “Greece has long been a favourite holiday destination for the British.

"But with the rate of inoculations in the UK largely outpacing all others across Europe and beyond, British travellers will be among the safest to travel here by as early as May.”

The Government has made it clear that travel from the UK for holidays is non-essential, and is currently not allowed.

Anyone travelling to an airport just to take a holiday could be sent home - or fined.

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said it would be up to countries where holidaymakers are arriving to decide on travel passports.

“The border measures of other countries and what they require of people coming to their countries will be up to them,” he told Sky News.

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“Receiving countries will set their own border measures and it will be up to those countries to define what they require travellers to have.

“At the moment, most countries, including our own, require a negative test result.

“And we’ll have to see what countries, what the international community, put in place once vaccines around the world are as effectively distributed, as they are here in the UK.”

Greece currently allows people to visit the country if they have a current negative Covid test.

They must also take a test on arrival and then quarantine for seven days.

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