Twelve countries on England's travel green list

The long-awaited restart of international travel is less throwing open the doors, more opening them a crack.

That’s a deliberate decision by the government, which is hoping to reassure those that are nervous about opening the country’s borders, while also giving a small concession to the travel industry.

Some in the industry are not impressed, calling the list a "missed opportunity".

Many of the transport secretary’s comments - dissuading passengers from travelling to amber countries and warning to expect queues at the border - will be seen as trying to dampen down demand, just at the moment the industry was hoping to ramp it up.

Ultimately, the real test will be in a few weeks' time when the government will announce the green list for June.

The industry's hoping it will be a little longer then.

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Spain says it hopes to be on England's green list for travel "very soon", after it was intitially put on the amber list.

In a statement, Spain's ministry of tourism says: "The inclusion of Spain in the 'amber' category of the traffic light system announced today by the UK government does not have an immediate impact on the arrival of British tourists to Spain, given that currently restrictions are still in force for non-essential travel to Spain from the UK."

But it adds that Spain "reiterates its conviction that this summer it will be possible for British citizens to spend their holidays in Spain" and it predicts that in June "we will be able to start the reactivation of international travel".

The statement adds: "Taking into account Spain’s vaccination progress, in line with the planned timings, and the decrease of the Covid-19 accumulated incidence rate, we hope to see Spain on the UK’s green list very soon."

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So, from 17 May, people in England will be allowed to take holidays abroad in a small number of countries.

Portugal and Israel are among countries on the government's green list, which tourists will be able to visit without having to quarantine on their return.

But how exactly will the system work? The BBC explainers team has written this guide to the new rules.

If you're just joining us and missed the transport secretary's green list announcement, you can watch a clip from it below:

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We've heard disappointment from some in the travel industry to the limited number of countries on the green list, but those who have made the list view it differently.

Sharon Berhadsky, director of the Israel Tourist Office UK, says the country's inclusion is "a source of great pride".

She says: "The minister of tourism Orit Farkash-Hacohen announced a roadmap for receiving tourists starting in the end of May when vaccinated groups of foreign tourists would be allowed in and, pending health considerations, we would hope that individual tourists could come for the summer holidays.”

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We've been receiving more reaction to the news about international travel rules for those in England.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of travel association ABTA says it is a "slower and more cautious approach than previously outlined by the government and will delay the industry's recovery".

He adds: "We understand that public health is the government’s priority, and it was always expected that the return to international travel would be gradual, but the government must use the next review to open up travel to more destinations, using the traffic light system to manage risk."

He calls for the government to commit to supporting travel agents and tour operators "through what will continue to be difficult times ahead".

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We just heard from Transport Secretary Grant Shapps about the new foreign travel rules coming into place in England from 17 May. Here are the main headlines from the press conference:

• Shapps outlined the countries that will be on the "green list" for travel, where quarantine will not be necessary upon return
• The only popular short-haul destinations on the list so far are Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel. Read the full list of destinations here
• But despite being on the green list, people will not be able to go on holiday to Australia, New Zealand or Singapore as they are closed to UK tourists
• Holiday favourites like Spain, France and Greece are not being added yet, Shapps said - but he hopes more destinations will join the green list in time
• He said the removal of restrictions was "necessarily cautious"

• Amber countries - from which people will have to quarantine at home upon their return - form the biggest list and people should not be travelling there yet either, said Shapps
• Three more countries are going on the red list, from which travel is banned for all but only UK or Irish nationals, or UK residents - and they have to pay for a 10-day stay in a government quarantine hotel on their return
• They are Turkey, Maldives and Nepal and the new rules come into force from 04:00 BST Wednesday

• From 17 May, people who have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine will be able to demonstrate their status on the NHS app
• People who do not have the app - which is different from the Covid-19 app - will be able to request an NHS letter instead
• Border Force director general Paul Lincoln warned that wait times to enter the UK were likely to take longer than usual when leisure travel resumes

• Read more here on how the traffic light system will work

Finally, Jim Scott at the Northern Echo asks if the government will consider stopping residents in certain areas from travelling abroad if cases rise in different regions of the UK.

Grant Shapps says the government has not gone back into a tiered system of restrictions because prevalence is low across the UK, allowing for a national approach.

He says he hopes we are not going back to those "bad old days" of very high prevalence.

"We are much better positioned this year with vaccines, testing and genomic sequencing," he says.

Lucy Fisher of the Telegraph asks whether Border Force will deploy more staff to ease delays at the border.

She also asks why the UK has testing measures for vaccinated travellers.

Paul Lincoln says Border Force will be increasing the number of officers available.

On travel measures, Grant Shapps says: "We've come so far we just don't want to mess this up."

Dr Jenny Harries says scientists are very confident that for most variants the vaccines we're using will protect individuals from serious disease and hospitalisation.

But she adds: "We don't yet have absolute clarity on the transmission risk and that continues to be the case as new variants arise."

She says that with each new variant scientists are looking to make sure that vaccines are still effective.

And she stresses that when travellers are coming back it is "critical" that they have their early PCR test (up to day two), which will contribute to global knowledge on the growth of variants.

Torcuil Crichton, of Scotland's Daily Record, asks if there is a four-nations agreement on the new system being announced today.

Grant Shapps says he has spoken with the devolved administrations and all four of the UK's chief medical officers have met and agreed the principles behind the traffic light system.

He points out that there elections in Wales and Scotland so the governments are in flux and says it might take a few days for the administrations to lay out what they will do.

But he says that he suspects that "by and large" we will see the same conclusions as "the science is the science".

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Paul Kelso from Sky says travel prices have soared and it is making travel the reserve of the rich. He asks if it is realistic that this summer will see the return of mass travel to destinations like Spain.

The transport secretary says that for package holidays a travel voucher can be given as a refund, which will be backed by the Atol protection scheme to give consumers confidence.

Grant Shapps says the list is not curated to think about "where people want to lie on beaches" and then twist the science to fit.

He says that would "betray what everyone has gone through over the last year".

Shapps says he thinks we will gradually see an opening up of travel but "we just need to give other places the chance to catch up".

The World Travel and Tourism Council says it welcomes the government's "first initial step" to "begin opening the door to international travel".

But Gloria Guevera, its president and CEO, says airlines and the wider tourism sector will be "hugely disappointed that the US, which has a similar vaccination success rate, has not been included on the green list''.

"Holidaymakers and business travellers will be disappointed by today’s news, with so few countries on the green list, while Europe steals a march on the UK by continuing to open up and welcome visitors back," she adds.

The British Chambers of Commerce says it hopes there will soon be an expansion of the green list as companies want to reconnect with overseas customers and suppliers.

Co-executive director Hannah Essex adds: “Firms want to see government do everything it can to continue to drive down the cost of the tests required for business and leisure travellers."

Next up is Tom Clarke, from ITV, who asks how concerned the panel are about the Indian variants compared to other variants of concern in the UK.

Grant Shapps says excellent border controls are helping the UK to keep on top of so-called "variants of concern".

Dr Jenny Harries says "yes we should be concerned" but that the message is "complicated".

She says that overall positivity rates dropped dramatically, but that there are areas with variants of concern, particularly the Indian one, that have risen quite sharply in the last week or two.

In those areas, people should be "extra cautious", she says.

On the particular Indian variant that has been made a "variant of concern", she says it has been found to have transmissability "at least equal to what we've been calling the Kent variant".

But researchers do not yet know many other characteristics about it - such as how effective vaccines are against it.

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Next up, BBC transport correspondent Caroline Davies asks why so few countries are on the green list.

Grant Shapps says "we can't do anything" to put the progress made in the UK at risk.

"I do accept that it is a slow and deliberate rollout of this," he says.

Shapps says the list will be reviewed by the Joint Biosecurity Centre every three weeks.

He adds there are checkpoints in the process that mean the government will be looking at what needs to happen in terms of testing in each of the categories.

"This will be fast developing situation," he says.

Our correspondent also asks what Turkey being added to the red list means for the Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea, which is due to take place in Istanbul.

He says fans should not travel to Turkey but adds - as we reported here earlier - that the FA is in discussions with UEFA, European football's governing body, and the UK is open to hosting the final.

But that decision will be down to UEFA, he says.

We are now on to questions.

David, in West Cornwall, asks about the vaccine rollout and whether poor uptake, particularly among young people, might threaten the success of the programme.

Grant Shapps says the level of uptake has been "phenomenal" so far.

Dr Jenny Harries says the country is probably leading on vaccine confidence, and that we are still on track to offer a first dose to every adult by July.

She believes it would be wrong to jump to conclusions that young people will not take up the vaccine. "We have every confidence that people will step forward and do that," she says.

Nicola, in Surrey, says the process for approving vaccines in the UK seems to have "stalled slightly" and asks why.

Dr Jenny Harries says it is remarkable that we have three approved vaccines for a new virus within a short timeframe.

She adds: "I don't think we can say it has stalled at all... and other potential vaccines are on their way."

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Paul Lincoln, director-general of Border Force is also present at the briefing.

He says that despite the positive news today, "unfortunately we are not back to normality yet".

He adds there will continue to be additional health checks for everyone crossing the border and "inevitably" this will bring delays.

"These measures have been put in place to protect the hard-fought gains and sacrifices individuals and society have made," he says.

He goes on to say it currently takes a Border Force officer five to 10 minutes to process "even the most compliant" passenger, compared to 25 seconds in normal times.

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We just heard from Grant Shapps that 12 countries have made it on to the government’s green travel list when international travel resumes for England on 17 May.

But we also heard more countries are being added to the red list - from which travel is banned - from next Wednesday. These are Turkey, Maldives and Nepal.

This means that Man City and Chelsea football fans will not be able to travel to Istanbul for the Champions League final.

The BBC understands from the government that talks are under way with the FA and UEFA to bring the match to the UK instead.

In order to protect the progress outlined by Dr Harries, Grant Shapps says green list countries will be placed on a watch list if there are any concerns, and the government will not hesitate to withdraw their green status.

He says the government's advice is not to book any holidays that do not include a refund in the event of Covid changes.

Shapps also confirms that those fully vaccinated will be able to show their Covid status on the NHS app from 17 May.

Those without app can request a letter to verify their vaccination status.

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Next up is Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency.

She says the number of people testing positive for coronavirus has continued to decline across all four UK nations.

"The case rates per 100,000, which have been in the hundreds, are now down to 23 on average," she says.

But she adds there is an element of plateauing.

She says that hospital admissions rates are at just above one per 100,000 people on average, compared to around one per 39,000 at the peak.

Dr Harries adds that people should get both vaccine doses as it is a "really strong part of the armament in the UK".