WHERE and WHEN tourists can travel in 2020, country by country as the coronavirus lockdown eases

With the worst of coronavirus seemingly over, holidaymakers worldwide are now looking ahead to the summer months in the hope that they might still be able to salvage their place in the sun.

With major tourist hotspots expected to reopen this month – expectations are again on the rise that summer 2020 may not be limited to just parks and back gardens.

The Passport Index has been tracking travel restrictions and has produced a country-by-country list pinpointing which borders are set to open and when.

The first batch of countries set to welcome visitors comprises Bahrain, Bulgaria and Qatar, which have June 10 down as the date when their borders will reopen.

On June 15, reports The Passport Index, Greece, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan will follow suit, along with several other nations.

June 22 will see Denmark, Estonia, Ireland and South Korea put out the welcome mat and on July 1, they’ll be joined by countries including Australia, Sweden, Canada and Colombia.

By July 15, the ranks of countries that have reopened borders will have been swelled by the UK, Israel, Morocco, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Russia.

Fast forward to August 1 and it’ll be possible for international tourists to pop over to Brazil, France, Spain, Italy, Egypt and Tunisia.

The last country on the list is the USA, which isn’t planning on opening its borders to international tourists until September 1.

Meanwhile, searches for package holidays to Spain this summer have increased by 52 per cent, Greece by 51 per cent and Portugal by 38 per cent in the past fortnight on the back of news that European tourism is reopening and quarantine-free air bridges can be established.

There have been 40 per cent more price comparison searches for July, August and September holidays in the past two weeks. 

That’s according to searches on holiday price comparison site TravelSupermarket from May 16 to 30 compared with the previous fortnight, for package holidays overseas departing between July 1 and October 31 this year.

Portugal has gone up two places in the search rankings in the past fortnight, compared with the start of May, to become the fifth most popular country for Britons to search for a holiday this summer.

Armand Arton, CEO of The Passport Index, said: ‘People worldwide have developed an insatiable appetite for global mobility and the freedom to travel, relax and work in a large number of different countries with very few hindrances.

‘Since we started the Passport Index in 2015, we’ve seen a consistent year-on-year increase in global mobility and we are confident that Covid-19 will be no more than a short-term anomaly to an ever-increasing trend. Temporary suspensions to visa-free entry arrangements for some countries are just that – temporary. We are confident that the world will reopen quickly and safely.’

• The FCO currently advises British nationals against all but essential international travel.