Commenting on the UK Government’s plan for quarantine-free travel from 50 ‘low-risk’ countries, Russell Borthwick, chief executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “The lack of a four-nations approach to the easing of quarantine restrictions is hugely disappointing and damaging. This is sending a message that Scotland is not open for business and has left Scottish firms struggling to interpret the practical impacts on jobs and their operations.
"Businesses will continue to struggle as long as the suggestion is out there that Scotland somehow may have separate quarantine restrictions and that the necessary balance between health and jobs is somehow seen differently north of the border.
"Adopting a different approach is going to do further damage to our aviation sector which has already been widely affected by this ongoing crisis. It poses a real risk to regional connectivity and impair the sector's ability to support the long term recovery of our economy if they cannot support the investment and critical trading routes that businesses need."
Dr Liz Cameron OBE, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said: "Complex policy variations and piecemeal measures simply confuse Scottish businesses, its global trading partners and the people of Scotland more widely. At a time when businesses hope to capture pent-up demand after months of devastating losses, there has never been a more important moment to show that we are ready and ‘open for business’ again.
"We urge the Scottish Government to commit to align with a UK-wide approach. In the light of current and expected job losses, we need the Scottish Government to make their decision as a matter of urgency hopefully not creating further divergence. Politics must be put to one side by all in order to give Scottish businesses the ability to drive up demand and do what they do best, making Scotland the best place to invest and do business."