SA is officially off the UK red list!
The British Government
has announced that South Africa will join 47 countries moved off the
red list. There is no firm indication when the decision will be effective,
but strict hotel quarantine requirements will be dropped.
Travellers arriving from non-red list countries who have received any of
four vaccines – Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen – in the UK, US, EU,
and 18 other countries now have their inoculation status recognised and can
avoid isolation as long as they test negative within two days of their arrival.
Everyone else arriving from non-red list countries must still isolate
for at least five days but can use the ‘test to release system’ to be freed.
This decision is long overdue, but it will come as a huge relief to hundreds of
thousands of tourism workers in South Africa, in addition to scores of holiday
companies in the UK. Our UK operators have already seen a surge in
enquiries from sun-starved Brits looking for a winter escape, and early
estimates suggest that upwards of 300,000 British passport holders expect to
visit friends and family or take advantage of highly competitive holiday deals
across Southern Africa in the coming months.
If like us you feel like shouting from the rooftops that South Africa is Travel
Ready with the announcement of South Africa’s lifting off the UK’s red
list, we’ve prepped these fun social media tiles for Instagram and Facebook for
you to use for free.
Simply visit https://traveltosouthafrica.org/download/14239/ to
download the ‘Reunited’ Toolkit.
The SATSA-led lobby to get South Africa off the red list since May gained
momentum recently as Team South Africa stepped up to the plate to highlight to
the British Government that the information they are using to keep us on the
list is flawed.
Big business, scientists, and government added their voice to the fray, putting
pressure on the British government to review their facts – this culminating in
a meeting between scientists from both countries.
It must be said that SATSA could not have got here without the support of its
members who gave willingly to help fund the lobby since May 2021. Our
immense gratitude for keeping the faith and supporting us throughout.
Yours in tourism
David Frost
