Hong Kong will cut quarantine for arriving travellers to 14 days from 21 starting Feb. 5, leader Carrie Lam said on Thursday, a move that follows intense lobbying from finance executives and diplomats who said the measure was hurting competitiveness. Tough coronavirus rules have made Hong Kong one of the world's most isolated cities, with flights down as much as 90%. Residents returning from more than 160 countries have been required to quarantine for 21 days in designated hotels will now have to spend 14 days in a hotel, followed by seven days of self-monitoring, with further details to be announced. She did not say which countries would be covered by the new rules. A flight attendant walks under an information board at the arrivals hall of Hong Kong International Airport, follo...
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Visitors from 20 countries including India continue to be banned Saudi Arabia plans to soon reopen to foreign tourists, a senior tourism official said on Monday after the kingdom announced the lifting of quarantine restrictions for certain foreign arrivals. The kingdom announced late on Sunday that non-citizens arriving from certain countries and who were fully vaccinated against or recently recovered from COVID-19 would no longer be required to quarantine in designated government hotels. FILE PHOTO: Tourists watch Saudi men perform a traditional folk dance at the cultural village of Rijal Almaa in the outskirts of Abha, Saudi Arabia. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri Those new measures, however, only apply to residents, government and business travellers or those visiting friends and famil...
Read MoreItaly will scrap mandatory quarantine from Sunday for visitors from the European Union, Britain and Israel who test negative for COVID-19, the government said on Friday as it looks to give summer tourism a boost. With vaccine roll-outs picking up pace in the EU, more countries are looking to ease travel curbs and restrictions on the hospitality sector to help it recover from the pandemic. “We have been waiting for this move for a long time and it anticipates a Europe-wide travel pass,” Tourism Minister Massimo Garavaglia. FILE PHOTO: Italian tourists visit the leaning tower of Pisa as it reopens to the public, following the ease of restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Pisa, Italy, May 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini The EU plans to star...
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 MorePeople travelling to Poland from Brazil, India and South Africa will have to quarantine, the Polish health minister said on Tuesday, as he announced cases of a COVID-19 variant first detected in India in the Warsaw and Katowice areas. The outbreaks poses a fresh risk to Poland just as it starts to emerge from a highly damaging third wave of the pandemic. "In the case of Brazil, India and South Africa, people travelling from these locations will automatically have to quarantine without the possibility of getting an exception due to a test," Health Minister Adam Niedzielski told a news conference. The number of infections involving the Indian variant in Poland has now reached 16, including two cases in the family of a Polish diplomat who had returned from India, Niedzielski sai...
Read MoreGreece lifts quarantine restrictions on coronavirus-free visitors from more countries including Australia and Russia from Monday as it extends exemptions ahead of formally opening up to tourists on May 15, the transport ministry said. The change, which came as Greece crossed the threshold of 10,000 deaths from COVID-19, follows a move this month to lift restrictions on visitors from EU countries, the United States and Britain, among other countries. 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 Visitors from these countries are allowed into Greece without spending a week in ...
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 MoreSingapore has launched a travel “bubble” business hotel that allows executives to do face-to-face meetings without a risk of exposure to the coronavirus, in one of the world’s first such facilities. The hotel has meeting rooms outfitted with airtight glass panels to reduce the risk of transmission and even has a special compartment with an ultraviolet light to sanitise documents so they can be shared between participants. A view of a meeting room outfitted with airtight glass panels at short-stay facility Connect@Changi, a complex of hotel rooms and meeting halls near the airport which welcomes business "bubble" travellers from March, as part of the city-state's effort to resume international meetings and conferences amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Singapore. RE...
Read MoreThailand will from next month reduce its mandatory quarantine from 14 to seven days for foreigners arriving in the country who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, its Health Minister said on Monday. Vaccinations must be administered within three months of the travel period and visitors will still be required to show negative COVID-19 test results within three days of their departure, Anutin Charnvirankul told a news conference. FILE PHOTO: A staff member sits under the arrivals flight information board at Suvarnabhumi Airport during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangkok, Thailand. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun Those not yet inoculated but with coronavirus-free certificates would be quarantined for 10 days, he said. “Foreigners travelling to Thailand with vacc...
Read MoreThailand’s tourism minister said on Thursday he will propose a plan for foreigners to undertake COVID-19 quarantine in popular tourist areas, including beach resorts, in a bid to help revive the country’s struggling tourism sector. The economy suffered its biggest contraction in over two decades last year as tourism slumped due to the coronavirus pandemic. A man walks on an almost empty beach which usually crowed with tourists following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Pattaya, Thailand. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/File Photo The hotel quarantine plan is expected to start in April or May in the provinces of Phuket, Krabi, Surat Thani, Chonburi and Chiang Mai, Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn told reporters after meeting with tourism operators and health officials. “Why...
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