Greece, looking to tourist season, makes islands vaccination priority Alekos Sfyriou untangles his fishing line and counts the days until ferries bring visitors back to his sleepy Greek isle. “All the small islands are waiting for tourists,” the 62-year-old fisherman says, slouched beneath a tree on the harbour. “They’ll eat the fish I catch.” There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 on Halki, a tiny island closer to Turkey than Athens, where the only sound piercing a quiet April morning was the crowing of a rooster. Nearly all of its 250 residents have been vaccinated against the virus, local authorities said, anticipating a resurgence of tourism, the economy’s lifeblood. View of the town of Halki, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, on the island of Hal...
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Seychelles has announced new travel measures on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, following an increase in outbreaks in several countries. With immediate effect, visitors from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh traveling to Seychelles have to be vaccinated. Travelers will only be permitted entry after taking their two doses, and a minimum of two weeks has elapsed after their final dose. A copy of the certificate should be presented when applying for the Health Travel Authorisation (HTA). The travel authorisation is mandatory for travel to Seychelles and will be requested by the airline company at check-in; visitors will not be allowed to board a flight otherwise. Vaccination certificates can be subjected to verification and approval by the Public Health Authority upon entry in the country. ...
Read MoreIceland will this week open its borders to all visitors who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 without mandatory testing or quarantine, as it seeks to attract more tourists to help revive its coronavirus-hit economy. The North Atlantic country, which will become one of the first to open its borders since the beginning of the pandemic, saw tourist numbers plummet by 75% last year to just under half a million, causing its economy to contract by 6.6%. FILE PHOTO: People walk past artwork on the side of a shop as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Reykjavik, Iceland. REUTERS/John Sibley “The world has been through a lot in the past twelve months, and we are all hoping for a slow and safe return to normalcy,” Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said in a...
Read MoreBritain is reviewing the idea of vaccine certificates to allow access to travel, hospitality and entertainment and discussing the best way to proceed in terms of fairness, said business minister Kwarsi Kwarteng. P&O Cruises said on Tuesday that it would only accept as passengers those who have had both doses of the vaccine for its trips around the UK this summer, sparking a fresh debate on the issue. FILE PHOTO: People on the beach as the P&O "Spirit of France" ferry is seen docked in the port of Dover, Britain. REUTERS/Paul Childs When asked about the fairness of companies requiring proof of vaccination to grant entry and what the government’s stance was on the matter, Kwarteng said it was under review. “We are discussing what the best way to proceed is,” Kwarteng tol...
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...
Read MorePeople who are vaccinated against COVID-19, have antibodies or test negative can travel to Greece this summer, Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis said on Tuesday. Tourism is a major income earner for Greece, which has led calls for an EU-wide vaccination certificate to help unlock travel. The industry accounts for about a fifth of the Greek economy and employs one in five workers, but arrivals collapsed last year because of the pandemic. FILE PHOTO: Greek presidential guards, wearing protective face masks, perform their sentry duty in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Athens, Greece, March 3, 2021. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis Greece is aiming to kick off its vital summer season by mid-May, said Theocharis as he addre...
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 MoreCOVID-19 insurance policies are increasingly joining passports and sunscreen as vacation staples, creating opportunities for insurers as more countries require mandatory coverage in case visitors fall ill from the coronavirus. Airline bookings are on the rise in some regions, driving cautious hopes of a revival in summer traffic, but also raising fears among tourist destinations of getting hit with bills should vacationers become stranded by the virus. More than a dozen countries from Aruba to Thailand require COVID-19 coverage for visitors, with Jordan the latest to consider such protections, organizers of an emergency services plan told Reuters. The market for all types of COVID-19 travel coverage is estimated to be between $30 billion to $40 billion a year, according to tr...
Read MoreTravel and Tourism sector requests EU governments to outline restart plan in time for summer
A European Travel Commission-led task force has been formed with aim to recover the freedom of movement and look into recommendations for the reopening of tourism in Europe. European Tourism Manifesto- an alliance of more than 60 travel and tourism organizations has disclosed this. Central idea for this is to how to bring back to life travel and tourism in Europe in time for summer 2021 by a sequence of mutual recommendations, one of the main being establishing an EU roadmap to recover travelling safely. Task Force would provide help in creating and implementing a roadmap and provide evaluations upon the risk based on scientific data. In such a case, the aim would be to consider the scenarios and conditions within which international travel restrictions could be loosened and eventually...
Read MoreThailand’s prime minister said on Tuesday that he has commissioned a study to look into issuing COVID-19 vaccination certificates for international travellers, as the country seeks to revive a tourism industry battered by coronavirus curbs. Meanwhile, EU is going to propose vaccine certificates in time for summer holidays. The Southeast Asian nation has been mulling the idea of so-called “vaccine passports”, but no target date has been set and tourism operators have complained about lost revenue. A Thai traditional giant statue wears a protective mask, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/Files Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Thailand will proceed with caution, waiting to see how effective vacci...
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