The US Travel Association has said it doesn’t understand why it has not been given green-list status by the UK Government, adding a swift return to open borders is in the best interest of both countries.

President and CEO Roger Dow said: “The UK’s decision to put the United States on their amber status for reopening just isn’t backed by the science.

“Putting the US on amber status ignores the scientific data regarding increasing vaccination rates, lower infection rates and that the US has the right strategies in place to mitigate risk.

“The US needs to demonstrate leadership and come to the table with the UK. and increase dialogue to allow for a reopening of travel with one of our most important international partners.

“The US economy will lose $262bn and 1.1m jobs if its borders remain shut, and putting a roadmap and timelines forward to quickly create a US-UK travel corridor would be low-risk for both countries and high-reward economically.”

His comments come as the US moved the UK from its Level Four ‘do not travel’ advisory to Level Three ‘reconsider travel’.