BRITS have been handed a holiday boost as travel experts said 17 more countries could be added to the green lists this week.
Restrictions on visits to destinations including Germany and Canada may be eased thanks to their low Covid case rates.
The news will comes as a huge boost to hopeful holidaymakers and the millions of Brits who have family living abroad.
Travel consultancy firm the PC Agency analysed the data from nations around the world to see where is on course to be opened up.
It says the countries that could be added to the green list are:
- Germany
- Poland
- Canada
- Austria
- Romania
- Bosnia
- Czech Republic
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
Experts said a further five nations have seen a big enough drop in new infections to make the green watchlist.
They are:
- Bhutan
- French Polynesia
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Saudi Arabia
Ministers are set to make the latest updates to the travel traffic light system on Thursday.
At the moment all Brits can travel to countries on both green lists without having to quarantine on their return.
Holidaymakers have to take a test before boarding the plane back to the UK, and another on day two after their arrival.
The green watchlist indicates those countries which ministers believe could turn amber due to rising case rates.
There are currently 30 countries on the two green lists, most them very small. Croatia and Malta are the only popular holiday haunts.
The majority of favourite destinations, including most of Europe, are on the amber list.
That means only Brits who have been double-jabbed can go there without the need to self-isolate for 10 days on return.
And even then, all visitors have to take two costly Covid tests after arriving back in the UK.
‘Last chance saloon’
It comes with industry chiefs warning it is now “last chance saloon” to “save the summer” by moving countries onto the green list.
Boris Johnson is also facing a growing backlash over plans for an “amber watchlist” that would create further confusion for travellers.
The new category would warn Brits of countries that could be slapped on the red list carrying a £1,700 hotel quarantine.
There have been reports it could even include major European destinations like Italy and Spain.
Travel chiefs have reacted with dismay to the plans which they’ve said would spell “disaster” for the already battered industry.
Paul Charles said: “At the moment the system in the UK is choking off recovery.
“It’s not helping the sector because there’s no confidence to book because people are worried about places changing at short notice anyway.”
Cabinet backlash
The PM is also facing a fight with key members of his Cabinet and hordes of angry backbenchers over the plans.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak, transport secretary Grant Shapps, and trade secretary Liz Truss all want them to be shelved.
And furious Tory MPs have blasted the move which would make going abroad “inexplicably complicated” for Brits.
But today a government minister defended the proposals and insisted they would help people make “common sense judgements”.
Digital infrastructure minister Matt Warman suggested Brits are better to holiday at home this year instead.
On the amber watchlist plans, he added: “I don’t accept that it’s complicated in a way that is not something that people can apply their common sense to.
“Saying to people if a country is on a watch list there is a risk that it could, for instance, move from green to amber or amber to red seems to me to be providing people with really important information when they’re making significant financial decisions, because people are of course really keen to get away for a holiday if they can.”
