The UK announced on Friday the removal of Egypt from its "red list" for travelers to the Kingdom from countries deemed a coronavirus risk starting 22 September.
The new UK travel update will move Egypt and seven other countries, Turkey, Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh and Kenya, to the so-called "amber list", a medium-risk category per the UK's anti-coronavirus safety measures, which requires simpler rules for entering the European country.
Arrivals from countries on the red list, or the high-risk category, undergo strict measures before entering England as they are required to stay an 11-day mandatory quarantine at a hotel approved by the British government and have two negative PCR tests before being allowed to check out of the hotel.
Travellers to England from an amber list country do not have to quarantine upon arrival into England, albeit they are required to take a COVID-19 pre-departure test, before travelling to the UK, and take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after arrival in England.
The new decision comes as the British government seeks to overhaul travel rules, via merging the green list, or the low-risk group, with the amber countries, in order to give a boost to the tourism industry.
The UK is one of the largest tourist markets for Egypt. From 2010 to 2015, It was ranked between the second to the fourth place among the ten largest exporter of tourists to Egypt.
Following the 25 January 2011 Revolution, the UK came second in the list of travellers to Egypt.
In 2010, 1.5 million British tourists flew to the country, a figure that rose to 1.34 million the following year, before dropping to 1.012 million in 2012.
Before the pandemic, some 415,000 Britons visited Egypt in 2018, according to British government estimates, making the UK one of the leading sources of tourists for the country.
Short link: