Coronavirus: Cyprus declares it will open its borders to vaccinated UK tourists from May

Cyprus has said it will welcome vaccinated Britons from the beginning of May – but UK government travel restrictions will still be in force.

The Cypriot government said those who had both Covid jabs could travel to the Mediterranean island without restrictions from 1 May.

However, the date Cyprus has set to open its borders to Britons is still more than two weeks before the earliest people in England will be able to leave the country for overseas holidays, while Scotland's First Minister has warned holidays abroad are “highly unlikely” this summer.

It comes as analysis found seaside accommodation prices have risen by an average of 35% this summer compared with last year, owing to a surge in demand for staycations.

Cyprus’s deputy tourism minister Savvas Perdios said the country would allow Britons who had been given vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency the right to enter without the need for a negative test or to quarantine.

Tourists would be required to have had their second dose at the latest seven days before travel, the minister added.

Cyprus has already struck a similar agreement allowing Israeli tourists to enter the country from April 1.

But foreign leisure travel will still be barred for people in England at the beginning of May, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the earliest Britons could jet away is May 17.

Lefkara village, in the foothills of Cyprus's Trodos mountains, is famed for its embroidery and silverwork.

As the Scottish Government published its new “strategic framework” for exiting the pandemic, Nicola Sturgeon said travel restrictions are “likely to remain so for some time yet” as a trade-off for easing other Covid curbs.

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