England set to welcome double-jabbed US and EU tourists

The government is on Wednesday expected to approve the reopening of England’s doors to double-vaccinated tourists from the EU and the US, in a move that will bring relief to the country’s leisure sector. Whitehall officials said UK ministers, led by chancellor Rishi Sunak, had argued it was safe to start readmitting foreign tourists without the need for quarantine if they had received two jabs. Sunak was particularly concerned that tourist destinations like London would lose out to locations like Paris and Rome now that the EU had decided to admit US visitors. “It could take effect from as early as next week,” said one Whitehall official briefed on the ministerial discussions. “Rishi has been leading the way on this.” Falling coronavirus case numbers in the UK made the decision easier. Grant Shapps, transport secretary, and Oliver Dowden, culture secretary, have both also argued for a resumption of travel into England. Arrivals from the EU and US would have to take a test pre-departure and repeat the process on day two of their stay. The decision to reopen England to EU tourists was made easier after the bloc started issuing citizens with a digital health pass from the start of this month. Opening up to double-vaccinated US travellers is more complicated since the American system of proof is paper-based and organised at a state level. But government officials said ministers were confident that US travellers with an American passport and a paper certificate would provide the reassurance needed.<br/>