Travel industry demands scrapping COVID PCR tests for travellers

The travel industry was one of the sectors that received a major set-back during the coronavirus pandemic and it continues to struggle to return to the pre-pandemic phase. COVID PCR test is one of the measures that were taken and helped to get back the industry rolling. But now the travel organization Abta has demanded that the PCR tests should be abandoned for majority of the holidayers. The organization has argued that the fully vaccinated travellers should not have the need to get tested when they return from a low-risk countries.

A number of popular holiday destinations are trying their best to get back to the tourism business and are also trying their best to lure the tourists with the best possible lure. Abta has argued that the COVID policies has adversely affected the summer travel business. Now that the summer season has almost come to an end, ten of the travel firms are already planning to file for redundancies after the furlough comes to an end. The organization has also requested the government to reduce the traffic light system for the small number of countries in the red list.

The tourists say that the expenditure of the PCR testing is also to be blamed as it discouraged people from travelling abroad. For now going abroad on a holiday would mean taking a PCR test when you are returning to the United Kingdom. It has been noticed that many of the private PCR test providers charge more than £60 and £30 for the lateral flow devices. However, the government has also warned the private providers who are charging exorbitantly.

The next review of the travel policies of the government is expected to be announced on October 1, 2021 and the furlough scheme is expected to end on September 30, 2021. The summer holiday bookings remained unchanged and low in 2021 when compared to 2020 despite the rollout of the vaccine campaigns.

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