
Prime Minister sets out roadmap to cautiously ease lockdown restrictions
PM Boris Johnson has announced the government’s roadmap to cautiously ease lockdown restrictions in England

Prime Minister to publish roadmap for cautiously easing COVID restrictions
The Prime Minister will set out the government’s roadmap for cautiously easing lockdown restrictions in England.

Business Rates Review Update
The final report of the government’s fundamental review of business rates will now be published in the Autumn, and has been announced.

Further £650 million funding boost for Covid-19 response in Wales
Latest Treasury announcement brings the extra funding provided since March 2020 to the devolved administration in Wales to £5.85 billion.

Robust border regime comes into force
Anyone who has visited a country on the UK’s travel ban list in the last 10 days will have to quarantine in hotels

Further £1.1 billion boost for Scotland’s response to COVID-19
UK Government provides devolved administration in Scotland with additional £1.1 billion to help tackle coronavirus

Tougher measures and enforcement rules for quarantined passengers introduced
Tough new enforcement measures – from fixed penalty notices to imprisonment – will come into force on Monday 15 February

Chancellor eases burden on more than a million businesses through Pay as You Grow flexible repayment options
Businesses that took out government-backed Bounce Back Loans to get through Covid-19 will now have greater flexibility to repay their loans, the government announced.

Measures announced to boost international study and global opportunities
Government announces new measures to help the education sector build back better from the pandemic.

Government confirms mandatory hotel quarantine to be introduced from 15 February
From 15 February anyone travelling to the UK from a country on the UK’s travel ban list will be required to quarantine in a government-approved facility for 10 days.

More than 10 million people receive first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in UK
Significant milestone reached as almost 1 in 5 adults in the UK get the vaccine.

Trinity UK expands Summer Camps provision
English language provider Trinity UK has announced a new range of destinations for English Summer Camps

Government announces £50 million to support students impacted by Covid-19
New funding will go to universities to help students facing financial difficulties arising from the impact of coronavirus.

YHA A united approach to recovery
Hostelling has been disproportionately hit by COVID-19. Yet hostels contribute more than any other aspect of hospitality to wellbeing, connection with nature and the rural economy

Surge testing to be deployed to monitor and suppress spread of COVID-19 variant
Additional testing is being made available in locations where the COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa has been found.

Spotlight on: Ryan Cronin, YOYO School Exchange
During COVID we were pleasantly surprised to see how often businesses were able to issue full refunds or work to find a positive compromise for both parties. These gestures of goodwill across the industry was a wonderful thing to see, which made me feel glad to be part of it

Contiki launches a new range of 18 themed worldwide mini adventures
From a foodie weekend in a French château to a wildlife photography safari in Botswana, the new Detour range promises local immersive experiences for 18-35s

UK government secures additional 40 million doses of Valneva vaccine
Deal takes total number of Valneva vaccines to 100 million, to be manufactured in the UK in Scotland

The View from the Shard partners with Ticketplan
Ticket insurance and protection innovators TicketPlan have announced a new partnership with iconic London attraction; The View from The Shard

UK applies to join huge Pacific free trade area CPTPP
The UK is formally applying to join one of the world’s largest free-trade areas, deepening trade ties with some of the fastest-growing markets in the world

Tougher border controls to protect public health
The government has announced further action for outbound and inbound passengers to minimise travel across international borders and reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission.

Supreme Court judgment in FCA’s business interruption insurance test case
The Supreme Court has today delivered its judgment in the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA)’s business interruption insurance test case

All UK travel corridors temporarily suspended to protect against new international variants
Emergency border measures introduced to prevent the spread of new variants of coronavirus into the UK

Past COVID-19 infection provides some immunity but people may still carry and transmit virus
Study finds past coronavirus (COVID-19) infection provides some immunity for at least 5 months, but people may still carry and transmit the virus

Travel from South American destinations, Portugal, Panama and Cape Verde banned to prevent spread of new variant
New travel restrictions from 4am Friday 15 January on passengers arriving in the UK from South American destinations, Portugal, Panama and Cape Verde.

Hospitality & tourism sector calls for further extension of reduced rate VAT
A survey of more than a thousand hospitality and tourism businesses by the Cut Tourism VAT (CTV) Campaign, UKHospitality, the Tourism Alliance and the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions demonstrates the importance of the decision by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to apply a reduced rate of VAT at 5% in protecting employment and the survival of those businesses

WTTC releases Mental Health Guidelines to aid the recovery of Travel & Tourism
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has launched its new mental health guidelines for the Travel & Tourism sector, which have been compiled to support businesses of all sizes to support the mental health of their employees.

Learn Away launches Online Language Exchanges
One of the core missions at Learn Away has always been to support language learning outside of the classroom

International travel update
From 4am on 15 January 2021, pre-departure testing will be required for all inbound passengers to England

Spotlight on: Maria McDonnell, Liverpool School of English
As we head towards COVID recovery I think the opportunities are that people still want to travel and learn English and that people now more than ever value experiences, new skills and making memories which is what we are all about!

UK launches Global Health Insurance Card
New agreement ensures the rights of UK residents to access emergency and medically necessary care when travelling in the EU will continue

Mandatory COVID-19 testing introduced to bolster border measures
International arrivals required to prove negative COVID-19 test result before departure for England.

Bayswater Education acquires Eurocentres
Bayswater Education today announces the acquisition of Eurocentres, a leading and historic language travel brand established in 1948.

Asymptomatic testing to be rolled out across the country starting this week
Community testing offer to be expanded across all local authorities in England to test people without symptoms

GSH LIVE – Online Courses for Groups
ABC Cambridge, have decided that it’s time to offer something new for when these situations occur… meet GSH LIVE.

Construction work to begin on new Science and Engineering buildings in January
Construction will begin on the new home for Manchester Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering and the refurbishment of its existing John Dalton complex in January 2021.

Scotland in lockdown
Mainland Scotland has gone into lockdown with a new legal requirement forbidding anyone from leaving their home except for essential purposes.

£4.6 billion in new lockdown grants to support businesses and protect jobs
Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000, the Chancellor has announced

EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
After intensive negotiations, the European Commission has reached an agreement with the United Kingdom on the terms of its future cooperation with the European Union.

New Turing scheme to support thousands of students to study and work abroad
Thousands of students will be able to study and do work placements across the world through a brand new scheme that replaces the UK’s participation in Erasmus+.

Second COVID-19 vaccine authorised by medicines regulator
Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine meets regulator’s strict standards of safety, efficacy and quality.

£104 million tourism and hospitality lifeline for Scotland
Tourism and hospitality businesses across Scotland are to benefit from a £104.3 million package of support in the New Year.

Government publishes list of approved COVID-19 test providers
The list of private providers of COVID-19 testing will help employers and individuals set up their own COVID-19 testing programmes.

Chancellor extends furlough and loan schemes
The furlough scheme has been extended until the end of April 2021 with the government continuing to contribute 80% towards wages – giving businesses and employees across the UK certainty into the New Year, the Chancellor announced.

VisitBritain inbound tourism forecast for 2021 predicts first signs of slow recovery
VisitBritain’s inbound tourism forecast for 2021 is predicting the first signs of a slow recovery for overseas visits to the UK

UK Chief Medical Officers’ statement on the self-isolation period
A change to the self-isolation period from 14 to 10 days has been announced.

Business evictions ban extended until March
Business owners affected by the pandemic will be protected from eviction until the end of March 2021, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced

All students offered testing on return to university
Students offered testing for Covid after Christmas as universities asked to stagger returns

Stay Campus London offers new ways for students to save on English courses
To enable more students to continue their academic dreams of a UK higher education, Stay Campus London is offering 20% off tuition fees to all students who book a University Foundation Programme before 31 December 2020.

Spotlight on: Rebecca Hunt, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – the Making of Harry Potter
Online and virtual experiences are here to stay and it’s how we use these as a supplementary offering for schools and not a substitute for a physical experience

Spotlight on: James Charnock, Manchester Metropolitan University
I actually think my career highlight has been during COVID-19! We managed to accommodate 250 keyworkers who were training with us in our en-suite halls of residence this summer

YHA and IHG join forces to lead the plea for government to support hostels
The future of youth hostelling lies in the hands of local MPs

Londonist DMC Partners with Edvisor
Londonist DMC is excited to announce they have partnered with the software platform Edvisor – an established booking platform designed specifically for Education Agencies

Liverpool School of English, joins the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee
Anna Goodband, School Principal at Liverpool School of English, joined the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee. Along with other Liverpool based companies they discussed the impact that Covid-19 restrictions and Liverpool being placed into Tier 3 have had on local businesses and the economy.

UK-wide Christmas arrangements agreed
The UK Government and the Devolved Administrations have agreed on joint arrangements for an easing of social restrictions that will allow friends and loved ones to reunite over the Christmas period

Test to Release: England introduces testing strategy for international arrivals
Passengers arriving into England will be able to reduce mandatory self-isolation by at least a week, as the government launches its new strategy for testing international arrivals.

Extra Bank Holiday to mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022
Culture Secretary announces plans to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022

Businesses in England to receive £2.2 billion to see them through national restrictions
Small businesses in England will receive a significant £2.2 billion from the government to help them through the current period of national restrictions

Government extends Furlough to March and increases self-employed support
Workers across the United Kingdom will benefit from increased support with a five-month extension of the furlough scheme into Spring 2021, the Chancellor announced.

UK looks set to lose 2.4m jobs in 2020 due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions, says WTTC
The new figure comes from WTTC’s latest economic modelling, which looks at the punishing impact of COVID-19 and travel restrictions on the Travel & Tourism sector.

International Tourism down 70% as travel restrictions impact all regions
Restrictions on travel introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to hit global tourism hard, with the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) showing a 70% fall in international arrivals for the first eight months of 2020.

Christmas @UFA: safe residentials for students unable to travel home
Education charity UFA (University of the First Age) are offering fun, safe residentials with appropriate Covid-19 safety measures, for international school students staying in the UK over Christmas due to coronavirus restrictions.

Prime Minister’s latest statement on coronavirus
Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a statement on coronavirus to the House of Commons

First Town Deals worth almost £180 million announced
Communities in 7 areas across England are set to benefit from up to £178.7 million in new Town Deals.

Furlough Scheme Extended and Further Economic Support announced
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended for a month with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked and further economic support announced.

Kickstart Scheme opportunity
The KickStart Government placement scheme goes live in November

Prime Minister announces new national restrictions
From Thursday, everyone must stay at home, with a limited set of exemptions.

BUNAC secures investment from youth travel specialist
BUNAC Travel Services, a global work and travel company, announces it has been acquired by David Andrews, Lioncourt Investments, who has invested new capital to support BUNAC’s growth ambitions.

Clink Hostels pledges 1000 free beds for volunteers
Clink Hostels pledges to facilitate change – to make a real difference, be in tune with the younger generation and stand up, by offering travellers keen to volunteer with key social causes 1000 free bed nights.

Hostel Travellers are driving the growth for sustainable travel
Hostelworld aims to unite hostel industry to tackle the root causes of plastic pollution and lessen the impact on the environment

Generation Z have changed future plans in the wake of COVID-19
With the upcoming academic year still in limbo, the aftermath of the chaos caused by A Level results and the job market now more challenging that it was 12 months ago, a new study from Topdeck Travel reveals that young Britons are questioning what’s next and making considered changes to their future plans

Theatre Workout receives lifeline grant from Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund
Theatre Workout has been awarded £50,000 as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure they have a sustainable future, the Culture Secretary has announced today.

Spotlight on: Adam Milford, Theatre Workout
The most rewarding aspect of my work is seeing young people being inspired to step out of their comfort zone, to create something, and perform it in front of their peers, especially when I know they’ve never done anything like this before and I know they will remember it forever

One Broker Launches New Website
East Anglian insurance firm One Broker celebrated the launch of its brand-new website, which delivers an improved online experience to its customers

Student.com and Uber Partnership Announcement
Student.com and Uber have entered a collaboration to help students in a COVID-19 world. As the new academic year has begun, both companies have collaborated to provide students with an opportunity for safer travel & to feel settled whilst heading to university

Plan for Jobs: Chancellor increases financial support for businesses and workers
The government announced it will significantly increase the generosity and reach of its winter support schemes to ensure livelihoods and jobs across the UK continue to be protected in the difficult months to come, supporting jobs and helping to contain the virus.

Brexit: Time is running out for businesses to prepare
The government urges business leaders to step up preparations for Australia-style arrangements from 1 January and launches ‘time is running out’ campaign.

Spotlight on: Vinay Bhardwaj, Keetoo® (The Vimal Group)
Name: Vinay Bhardwaj Job Title: Founder & MD Company: Keetoo® (The Vimal Group) Member Since: 2019 Being an MD is about guiding, enabling and encouraging my team to achieve the great things they strive for every day, they continually amaze and inspire me with their dedication, passion and achievements. The business would simply be nowhere without them Tell us a bit about your role and how it supports the business? I’d love to be able to boil my role down to a few select areas – but as any founder will tell you, we wear many hats on a daily basis. What I can tell you is that the roles of founder and managing director serve two very different purposes. Being a founder is all about having an original vision, passion and inspiration; keeping those elements live and weaving them into the fabric of the business through challenging conditions. At the same time, being an MD is about guiding, enabling and encouraging my team to achieve the great things they strive for every day. They continually amaze and inspire me with their dedication, passion and achievements. The business would simply be nowhere without them. What has been your career highlight to date? After […]

Prime Minister announces new local COVID Alert Levels
The Prime Minister has set out how the government will further simplify and standardise local rules by introducing a three tiered system of local COVID Alert Levels in England

Taskforce for safe return to global travel launched
A new Global Travel Taskforce to support the travel industry and the safe recovery of international travel has been launched by the government

Job Support Scheme expanded
The government’s Job Support Scheme (JSS) will be expanded to protect jobs and support businesses required to close their doors as a result of coronavirus restrictions, the Chancellor announced

Job Retention Bonus Update
After announcing the Job Retention Bonus (JRB) earlier in the summer, the government has now produced the guidance providing the detail of how the JRB will work in practice.

Thames River Sightseeing welcome you back on board
We are open and looking forward to welcoming you back on board our river cruises.

Event Report: Youth Travel Workshop Online
In response to industry demand, BETA delivered its inaugural Youth Travel Workshop Online on 10th September Attended by 90+ businesses from the UK and overseas, all with a focus on revitalising our sector, reviving industry partnership and making steps to recover the business lost during Covid-19. Feedback from the day was fantastic with the event far exceeding the delegate’s expectations: 100% rated the event good or excellent99% made new contacts99% said it is excellent for negotiating new business99% feel it’s important to be represented at this event98% said the event was excellent value for money95% rated the calibre of buyers & suppliers as excellent97% secured new products and partners on the day98% said it was an excellent forum for raising awareness of their products and services BETA’s Executive Director, Emma English said, I was delighted with the results and delegate feedback from this event. Clearly having to cancel our face to face event earlier in the year meant that an important opportunity to connect buyers and suppliers was missing from our activity.Being able to host the event online, using the technology that we have all now become so familiar with really helped us to reach a wider audience, with buyers in attendance […]

Latest consumer tracker report from VisitBritain
The latest VisitBritain UK COVID-19 Consumer Tracker Report for week 14 is now available

Spotlight on: Adelle Barnett, Learn Away
In an ever-changing situation, the importance of being an expert, adapting and keeping customers up to date has been key

Hear from travellers on hostelling during COVID
St Christopher’s Inns have teamed up with our partners in World Hostels to ask backpackers what it’s like to travel right now

The Original Tour, Introduces London’s new romantic experience
This summer, we launched a brand new tour for Londoners to see the city like never before

Londonist proud to be joining forces with iQ Student Accommodation
We are excited to announce our partnership with iQ Student Accommodation!

Bayswater Summer announces 2021 portfolio
Language Study Centres becomes Bayswater Summer

The way you hire from the EU is changing
The Home Office has launched a new campaign to help employers prepare for the introduction of the UK’s new points-based immigration system.

Spotlight on: Michael Wood, ABC Languages
We have been using the unexpected downtime to work on making our courses even better and planning for our every popular summer school for 5-17 year olds in 2021

Chancellor outlines Winter Economy Plan
Rishi Sunak unveils government’s plan to protect jobs and support businesses over the coming months.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): What has changed
The government has announced further national measures to address rising cases of coronavirus in England.

Venues required to enforce rule of 6, NHS QR code posters and contact logs
Hospitality venues in England are now legally required to enforce the rule of 6 or

French association UNOSEL teachers survey results
As of the start of the 2020 school year, UNOSEL conducted a survey of teachers to find out about their educational school trip plans for the coming year.

International Student Mobility Heatmap
The British Council set up a Covid-19 Inward Mobility Taskforce to pull together critical information about how the pandemic is impacting inward mobility to the UK on a global level

Government extends support to stop business evictions this year
Commercial tenants will be protected from the risk of eviction until the end of

High Court ruling favours policyholders in FCA business interruption test case
Ruling on a test case presented by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the High Court has ruled that business interruption policies with pandemic or notifiable disease clauses should be read as to cover COVID-19, and that claims should be met “in most cases.”