With news constantly trickling in that countries are reopening their borders in time for peak tourist season, you may well have been thinking about booking a last-minute getaway this summer. But if you’re from the UK or USA, it seems you could be less welcome than the headlines might suggest.
UK visitors are now allowed to visit most European destinations without self-isolating, while US travellers are currently banned. According to a new poll by YouGov, however, the vast majority of Europeans say they are opposed to quarantine-free travel from either country.
Nearly two thirds of Spaniards don’t want Britons to be allowed into the country without having to self-isolate, while three quarters are opposed to Americans being let in. There is a similar pattern across the rest of the continent: in France, 55 percent of those surveyed were against unrestricted travel from the UK, and 69 percent against tourism from the USA. In Germany, this was 58 percent for UK travel, and 70 percent for USA.
Of the eight European countries involved in the poll, only Italy didn’t show a majority opposing travel from the UK – 44 percent of those questioned – but 61 percent of Italians still thought US citizens shouldn’t be allowed in. In fact, a majority of respondents in every country said they were opposed to allowing unrestricted travel from the USA.
Compared with travellers from the eight other European nations included, the survey found that UK travellers are the least welcome on the continent this summer. China and USA were the only two countries whose residents are less welcome.
So it looks like a staycation this year might be your best bet.
Where can you travel right now? Here are all the countries that have reopened.