President Joe Biden will meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday (today) in Cornwall, ahead of the Group of Seven summit, where they will discuss resuming travel between the U.K. and U.S. as quickly as possible.
The AP reports that according to a White House official, when they do meet, they are expected to announce the creation of a U.S.-U.K. task force that will move toward resuming travel between the two nations. Most travel has been banned between the two nations since March 2020.
“Opening a U.S.-U.K. travel corridor is a smart, science-based step to take for both countries’ economic recoveries, and now is the critical time to take it,” says U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow.
“The U.S. and the U.K. both have among the world’s leading records on vaccinations and declining infections, the U.K. is our top overseas travel market, and the two governments enjoy a close relationship. With abundant evidence that travel is safe with layered health measures in place—and a clear economic need to reopen international travel—moving to reduce travel restrictions between the two countries is the perfect place to start,” he says.
“The travel industry enthusiastically applauds the Biden administration and U.K. government for being responsive to the calls to advance a bilateral travel corridor, and hopes to see it implemented by early July. The unemployment rate in the U.S. travel industry is currently more than double the national average, and seizing opportunities to safely reopen all segments of travel will potentially restore millions of jobs and hundreds of billions in economic activity.
In addition, it has been reported that there are growing signs that a new COVID wave is starting to hit the U.K. and other countries as new strains are emerging and infections are rising again. On Wednesday, 7,540 people tested positive for the coronavirus in the U.K.—the highest daily cases reported since the end of February. This may hinder the plans to lift restrictions and resume travel between the two countries.
For more information on the U.S. Travel Association, visit ustravel.org.
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