UPDATE 1-UK eases travel rules for countries including India

(Adds details, quotes)

LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Britain will scrap tough COVID-19
quarantine requirements for 47 destinations including South
Africa on Monday and make it easier for people to arrive from
countries including India, Brazil and Turkey in the latest stage
of its relaxation of the rules.

Britain's tourism industry has essentially lost two full
summers after travel restrictions imposed to contain the spread
of COVID-19 deterred many people from going on holiday.

Airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet have said that
expensive tests and frequently changing restrictions have
delayed any recovery in the sector, leaving the British industry
lagging its European peers.

On Thursday, transport minister Grant Shapps said he would
remove 47 destinations from the red list that required arrivals
to spend 10 days quarantining in a hotel. Seven countries remain
on the list, including Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.

He has also eased the rules for countries such as India,
Turkey and Ghana, meaning that fully vaccinated arrivals will
only need to take a test on day 2 to check for COVID.

In a further change, passengers will be able to send a
picture of their lateral flow test result to verify test
accuracy once the requirement switches from the more expensive
PCR test later this month.

"Restoring people's confidence in travel is key to
rebuilding our economy and levelling up this country," he said.
"With less restrictions and more people traveling, we can all
continue to move safely forward together along our pathway to
recovery."
(Reporting by Kate Holton, editing by Andy Bruce)