Portugal will allow tourist flights from European Union countries with low infection rates and from the UK, but passengers must show a negative coronavirus test on arrival, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday. The announcement came a day after the Portuguese tourism authority gave the green light to UK tourists to enter the country from Monday. FILE PHOTO: A couple is seen next to rows of empty hammocks during the coronavirus pandemic in Albufeira, Portugal. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante In a statement, it said the ban will be lifted on European countries with less than 500 cases of infections per 100,000 people. Tourists from Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are also allowed to start flying to Portugal. Visitors will have to show proof of a negative test taken ...
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Greece formally opened to visitors on Saturday, kicking off a summer season it hopes will resurrect its vital tourism industry battered by the coronavirus pandemic. After months of lockdown restrictions, Greece also opened its museums this week, including the Acropolis museum, home to renowned sculptures from Greek antiquity. Passengers arriving from Germany and Switzerland stand with their luggage outside the terminal of the Heraklion airport, as the country's tourism season officially opens, on the island of Crete, Greece, May 15, 2021. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis "I feel really alive and good because it has been such a hard and long year because of COVID," said Victoria Sanchez, a 22-year-old student on holiday from the Czech Republic. "I feel again alive," she said, as she st...
Read MoreGermany hopes for a swift agreement on a COVID-19 certificate that could allow citizens to travel more easily in the European Union, as more and more countries are opening up amid falling infection rates ahead of the summer holiday season. European affairs ministers met on Tuesday in Brussels to discuss the details of the “green certificate” that the EU aims to introduce in June, but talks between the European Commission, EU lawmakers and EU governments have yet to reach an agreement. FILE PHOTO: People receive COVID-19 vaccine in the Central Mosque in Ehrenfeld suburb, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Cologne, Germany, May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen While EU officials stress they will not discriminate against those who do not have a certificate, touris...
Read MoreBritain will allow international travel to resume from May 17 after months of banning most trips abroad, but nearly all major destinations were left off its list of countries open for quarantine-free holidays. Just 12 countries and territories made the so-called "green list". They include Portugal, Israel, New Zealand, Australia and the tiny Faroe Islands. Passengers wearing protective face masks arrive from Paris at Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station, as Britain imposes a 14-day quarantine on arrival from France from Saturday, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London, Britain. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls The top four destinations - Spain, France, Italy and the United States - were among those left off, angering stricken airlines and holiday compani...
Read MoreWith widely spaced sun loungers and regular disinfections, Greece reopened its organised beaches on Saturday as the popular Mediterranean holiday destination eases COVID-19 curbs in preparation for the return of foreign visitors next week. Tourism accounts for about a fifth of Greece's economy and jobs, and - after the worst year on record for the industry last year - the country can ill afford another lost summer. A general view of a beach during the official reopening of beaches to the public, following the easing of measures against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Athens, Greece, May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Costas Baltas "We're pinning our hopes on tourism," said Nikos Venieris, who manages a sandy beach in the seafront suburb of Alimos, just outside the capital,...
Read More"Turkey Unlimited. Now available without Turks," reads a mock tourism advert on social media, poking fun at the sight of foreign tourists roaming quiet streets while most Turks are confined to home by a coronavirus lockdown. The government has exempted foreign holidaymakers from the 2-1/2-week long lockdown in an effort to revitalise tourism, a critical sector of the Turkish economy. Those arriving in Turkey must show proof of negative COVID-19 tests. But Turks on social media have voiced indignation at images of tourists partying on the country's Mediterranean coast or locals slapped with fines for being outdoors while foreign visitors can wander around as they wish. A tourist poses for a souvenir photo outside the historic Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, during a nation...
Read MoreThe European Union’s executive has recommended easing COVID-19 travel restrictions next month to let foreign travellers from more countries enter the bloc, hoping to boost the stricken tourism industry this summer. Under current restrictions, people from only seven countries, including Australia and Singapore, can enter the EU on holiday, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated but subject to tests or quarantine. New proposals from the European Commission on Monday, but still requiring approval by the EU’s 27 member states, would allow in fully vaccinated foreign citizens and those from countries with a “good epidemiological situation”. FILE PHOTO: Federal police officers check air passengers arriving from Britain at Frankfurt Airport, as the spread of the coronavirus dis...
Read MoreTourism first! Island of Phuket in mass vaccination drive ahead of the rest of Thailand
In Thailand, it’s the all-important tourism sector that has jumped to the head of the COVID-19 vaccination line, with the country’s most popular resort island embarking on a mass inoculation programme two months ahead of the rest of the country. The island of Phuket aims to deliver shots to at least 460,000 people - most of its population - as it gears up for July 1, when vaccinated overseas visitors will no longer be required to quarantine. People receive the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine as the Thai resort island of Phuket rushes to vaccinate its population amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, and ahead of a July 1 ending of strict quarantine for overseas visitors, to bring back tourism revenue in Phuket, Thailand, April 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva Phuket also has its ...
Read MoreThai authorities on Friday agreed to allow foreigners inoculated against the coronavirus to travel to its biggest holiday island without undergoing quarantine, and announced a new order for five million more doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine. With arrival numbers plummeting this past year, tourism-reliant Thailand is racing to secure vaccines for its population and reopen the country to foreigners in a pilot project for vaccine passports. FILE PHOTO: A person is seen in water near a beach which is usually full of tourists, amid fear of coronavirus in Phuket, Thailand March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun “If we can inoculate 50% to 60% of the population we can open the country safely and move the economy and tourism forward,” senior health official Kiattiphum Wongraijit said. Its ...
Read MoreGreece is laying out the sunbeds and beach umbrellas as it prepares to reopen to tourists in May and resurrect an industry which suffered one of its worst years in decades because of the coronavirus pandemic. “All you need is Greece,” Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis said this week in an address from the Acropolis museum, home to sculptures from Greek antiquity. The tourism sector accounts for about a fifth of Greece’s economy. FILE PHOTO: Workers install wooden corridors on a beach, a day before the official opening of beaches to the public following the easing of measures against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Athens, Greece. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis As COVID-19 vaccination programmes get underway around the world, Greece is relying on its record in...
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