Thinking of travel but will other countries want the Brits?

[Daffsareup]

When restrictions are lifted and we're able to travel abroad I wonder if we'll be welcome?
Some friends, who live in the Caribbean, were saying that there's talk of the virulent 'British Strain'.
If you live in another country I'd be fascinated to hear your opinions on travellers from the UK visiting your country in the coming year.

Greek here. Live in the UK but family in Greece. Mitsokakis is very keen to get British tourists due to our accelerated vaccine programme mostly.

Hopefully, including me

Yes, because most of us will be vaccinated by then. The 'UK strain' was identified here as we do more testing for different strains than any other country. It doesn't mean it originated here, I would say the fact that it was first discovered here in Kent, which obviously has a lot of maritime traffic suggests it probably came from abroad, although obviously we don't know that, and it would be very hard to conclude that.

Thanks @LivinLaVidaLoki that's reassuring.

My family abroad, think that we are looking ahead of the game at the moment.

I'm in Spain, and the tourism sector has been decimated. The Spanish desperately want tourism back, so as long as its safe, will have open arms to the British resuming their holidays here. I also can't wait cause I want to see my mum .

Im desperate to go to Greece and was thinking October but i doubt I will be vaxxed by then so not sure id be allowed. Where abouts in Greece are you Livin?

I'm in the UK @ifnot
But have family in mainland Greece and Crete. Vaccination isn't going to be a prerequisite for travel to Greece.

If they're vaccinated, they'll want the money.

However, much might depend on whether we have data on transmission post-vaccination and whether the UK has VOC in circulation that are not in the destination country.

Ah sorry, didn’t read properly! I’m very glad to hear that RE vaccine passports. Quite fancy Crete actually-might be nice in October.

I hope so, DH's family is all overseas and his siblings are having babies this summer. Might not be able to see them this summer but maybe in the autumn.

The problem is quarantining when we return. We can hopefully negotiate with work to WFH but there is no guarantee. However paying for a quarantine hotel on top of everything else would be too much.

@LivinLaVidaLoki that's great news. Before the pandemic we were planning on taking the kids to crete. Loved it when we visited pre kids, was one of my favourite holidays. maybe be next year😁

@LivinLaVidaLoki

I'm in the UK *@ifnot* But have family in mainland Greece and Crete. Vaccination isn't going to be a prerequisite for travel to Greece.

Greece has been pressing the EU for vaccine passports. www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/14/greece-presses-case-for-covid-vaccine-passports-but-other-eu-states-wary

@Sheepies

Yes, because most of us will be vaccinated by then. The 'UK strain' was identified here as we do more testing for different strains than any other country. It doesn't mean it originated here, I would say the fact that it was first discovered here in Kent, which obviously has a lot of maritime traffic suggests it probably came from abroad, although obviously we don't know that, and it would be very hard to conclude that.

No, we know it originated here, right down to the patient it originated in.

I think those countries desperate for U.K. tourism might try letting us in. I suspect those with better covid control who aren’t completely reliant won’t want to risk screwing up their economy trying to get the U.K. strain under control if it gets in.

I'm in Italy and the only thing about the UK that people ask me about is how come on TV news reports, not many people are wearing masks.
We had British visitors over last summer and nobody batted an eyelid.

I’m in Denmark and I don’t think tourists from different countries will be differentiated. I think either a vaccine or a negative test will be a prerequisite from anywhere. Just a guess though. At the moment the whole world is on the ‘red list’. I can’t wait to travel again 😎

@Phyzzy Mitsotakis has said that he supports the implementation of a vaccine passport as it would encourage those eligible to take up the vaccination, but "a vaccine will not be a prerequisite for travel to Greece"

There is a suspicion that he has suggested this to increase vaccine take up in Greece, as there are some communities in Greece who are quite skeptical of the vaccine.

Surely the research about whether vaccinated folks can still be carriers is the key here. The tax means we are less likely to get sick, not that we carry it. So are we prepared to risk ££, which is unlikely to be an easily insurable risk, on being turned away at the airport on departure, or even on arrival and then having to quarantine. I am desperate to travel - we are pushing back a trip to Japan until 2022. Should have happened last year.

I work in tourism. Tourist boards and hotels are bending over backwards to welcome us back in tourism reliant countries like the Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles

That's reassuring, LivinLaVidaLoki, as I also have family on the Greek islands. Haven't seen my mum since Christmas 2019 and has been starting to lose optimism in being able to see her this summer which I'd been pinning my hopes on. At the moment it feels like she may as well be on another planet

Egypt will take you with open arms.

We managed a fortnight in Greece last October and the Greeks were wonderfully welcoming (except at the airport but I think they presume Brits are all dicks because they see the worst of us).

The restaurants and shops were lovely and really pleased to see tourists.

Booked again for this year, late enough that we can see which way the vaccine passports go and act accordingly.

Canada currently won’t let any tourists in from anywhere, its been like this since March 2020 and no sign of it ending soon.

It is referred to as ‘The British Variant’ here along with ‘The South African Variant’ and they are trying hard to keep on top of it.

We have been told that nobody should travel, not even within Canada, quarantine hotels for all returners to Canada come in on 22nd Feb 3 days min (then you can quarantine at home) once you have a negative test $2000 per person 😱 I think it will have the desired effect of stopping Canadians going to the states/Mexico for some winter sunshine.

I’m wanting to come back to the UK but just have to hope things will change later in the year.

I’m in Malta. There’s been a push from the government for a long time to keep tourism open and encourage people to come. Really, Malta opened up over the summer to travellers from “safe corridor” countries and never closed down the way most EU countries did - although of course the foreign visitor numbers are much lower than normal. A PCR test is required for everyone at the airport or ferry port (they will do it for you at airport arrivals if you don’t have one within the past 72 hours) and there’s mandatory isolation for any positives.

Arrivals from the UK have been banned (except for Maltese citizens or residents, who have to self-isolate and re-test) since the new strain was discovered. I’m sure there’s political will (and desire from the tourism industry) to put the UK back on the corridors list one it’s considered safe, but not sure when that will happen.

As for prejudice against British people, I haven’t noticed any. Some friends were here for a month from the UK (before the ban) and decided to stay for a bit after things became more severe at home and once their short-term rental ran out they’ve been using hotels. They say they’ve had no issues with booking or checking in with a UK passport.

The UK was big news for a few days when the new strain was discovered, but now it's just covered in the media like other countries, including some positive coverage about the vaccine progress. We hear at least as many negative things about the situation in France and Portugal at the moment - and of course the US, Latin America, South Africa.