French Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoine announced Thursday on TV5Monde that UK travelers who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus will be able to enter France from Friday, even without providing a compelling reason.
“People who have been vaccinated in the UK will no longer have to come up with a compelling reason,” Lemoyne said, also declaring that they should no longer be placed in quarantine.
Vaccinations will be requested for a negative diagnostic test, which is taken 24 hours before departure.
In addition to the negative test, unvaccinated people would still have to provide a “dominant reason” and would not be able to travel for leisure. “The vaccine makes the difference,” he explained.
The French government had ruled a month ago that travelers to and from the UK should justify their trip with good reason, given the high omicron infections.
But in the middle of the festive season and the onset of winter in ski resorts, the sector has expressed concern about the absence of a significant portion of its British customers.
“British customers represent 15% of all French ski resorts,” Lemoine explained, noting that the government had financially supported the tourism sector affected by the pandemic.
The ad was well received at the ski resorts.
“It’s a huge relief,” Francois Bagili, director of the famous Alpes d’Huez tour operator, told AFP.
The sector in France recorded an 8% decrease in bookings compared to 2019, but with different scenarios (-14% in the Alps and +12% in the Pyrenees), according to the specialized agency Protourisme.
