News

No more PCR test for fully vaccinated visitors entering Seychelles

Seychelles shifts its gears and allows visitors to enter the destination without having to present a negative PCR test. Effective March 15, 2022, visitors over 18 years, having received the first two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine including a booster dose after six months since completing the primary series; will be considered fully immunised. Fully immunisation for visitors aged 12 to 18 years, necessitates the completion of only two vaccine doses. All fully immunised visitors will therefore be exempted from pre-travel PCR test requirement, while unvaccinated or partially vaccinated visitors will be required to present a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours or a rapid antigen test done in a certified laboratory within 24hrs before departure to Seychelles. Potential visitors having tested positive to the COVID-19 virus -between 2 to 12 weeks prior to travel – are also exempted from pre-travel COVID-19 testing upon provision of proof of infection and recovery. Only one year after the destination reopened its borders to all visitors around the world irrespective of their vaccination status, this fundamental move aims at making Seychelles more accessible and competitive as a destination. As safe tourism experience remains essential, all visitors will still require having a travel insurance in addition to their medical insurance cover and are encouraged to book their stay at a certified accommodation. Moreover, it is mandatory that all visitors apply for a Travel Authorization prior to travel. The Principal Secretary for Tourism Sherin Francis states that the new measures taken by the country are necessary at this stage of the recovery of the industry. “The exemption of the PCR test for fully vaccinated visitors is certainly excellent news for Seychelles. With restrictions being removed and many destinations reviewing their PCR requirements for entry it was a necessary step for us as a destination to retain the interest of our potential visitors. As an industry, we are keeping our commitment towards safe tourism and we should not be complacent and remain vigilant to protect our population and our visitors,” said Mrs Francis. The country has also recently eased other restrictions including the removal of the overnight curfew and closing time for entertainment services such as bars and casinos which became effective on March 1, 2022.

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South Korea: Overseas travel demand picking up again; 'Inquiries about honeymoon trip increase'

As the Korean government will lift the mandatory self-quarantine measure for fully vaccinated residents from March 21, demand for overseas travel is expected to recover. According to the tour industry on the 16th, flight reservations have continued to increase since the government announced to exempt vaccinated travellers and residents from self-quarantine on the 11st. Flight reservation on Interpark Tour from the 11th to the 13th increased 873 per cent year-on-year and 281 per cent from the previous month. This is also an increase of 54 per cent compared to November 12-14 last year, when expectations for the overseas travel increased before the spread of Omicron variant. Tour agencies are also actively carrying various marketing events. An official from Interpark Tour said, "Flights to vacation spots such as Hawaii, Guam, and Saipan are particularly popular. Following Saipan, which does not require self-quarantine when entering and departing the country, reservations for flights to Guam and Hawaii are also expected to increase after the government lifts quarantine measures." Hana Tour will resume its marketing campaign 'As you dream, unfold' until April 30. It is also offering time sale and early-bird promotions. Modoo Tour will also hold a time deal event that offers discounts of up to 31 per cent on overseas tour packages. Customers can receive 1,000 Modoo Tour mileages that can be used as cash by solving the quizzes on its website. In particular, demand for honeymoon trip is expected to increase. An official from Hana Tour said, "Since the government announced that it will lift selfquarantine for travellers, inquiries about honeymoon trip between April and June have been increasing rapidly." Hana Tour will hold an 'Online Honeymoon Fair' for a month in March to introduce popular honeymoon destinations such as Maldives, Cancun, and Hawaii. It is also preparing group honeymoon tour packages to Europe. In addition, Hana Tour will also release 10-day tour package to France, Switzerland, and Italy departing in late April or early May. However, there are also some concerns that it is still too early to expect that travel demand will recover to the level of before Covid-19. It is pointed out that the recent surge in travel demand is due to the base effect of falling demand over the past two years.

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Over 100,000 foreign tourists arrive in Philippines since reopening of borders

Over 100,000 foreign tourists have arrived in the Philippines since the Southeast Asian country reopened its borders last month, the government said on Friday. The country famous for pristine white beaches allowed fully-vaccinated foreign nationals from visa-free countries and regions to enter in February. This month it eased further the Covid-19 restrictions, allowing entry to all fully-vaccinated foreign nationals. "Inbound visitor arrivals reached 102,031 as of March 16, a high note for the country since its closure of borders at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020," Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said. Puyat expressed optimism the influx of foreign tourists will lead to the "inevitable revival of the sector" hardly hit by the pandemic. "We are happy to see the gradual reopening of our borders finally bearing fruit as evidenced by the much higher foreign visitor arrivals," she said, hoping the reopening will provide more jobs and livelihoods to Filipinos in the tourism sector. As a key economic driver, the tourism industry's contribution to the Philippines' gross domestic product stood at 12.7 per cent in 2019, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. The pandemic has badly hit the tourism sector in the Philippines, forcing hotels and airlines to lay off staff. Almost 1.1 million workers were affected in the tourism industry across the country. Data showed that tourists from the United States topped arrivals, followed by Canada, Britain, South Korea and Australia. "Our numbers are still far from pre-pandemic levels, but we are optimistic that this will continue to increase amid the sustained decline in Covid-19 cases in the country as well as the ongoing efforts of the Philippine government to improve its healthcare capacity," Puyat said.

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New Zealand to welcome the world back as tourism restarts from May

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday her nation was “ready to welcome the world back” with most tourists allowed to return by May as the nation continues to ease its coronavirus restrictions. The announcement bought forward the date that tourists from countries including the US, Canada, Britain and much of Europe can visit from the previously announced date of October. International tourism used to account for about 20 per cent of New Zealand's foreign income and more than five per cent of GDP. But when the pandemic began, New Zealand enacted some of the world's strictest border controls and tourism evaporated. The measures were initially credited with saving thousands of lives and allowed New Zealand to eliminate or contain several outbreaks. But with the omicron variant now spreading throughout the country, the border restrictions have become largely irrelevant. Ardern said the move would boost the economy. “Closing our border was one of the first actions we took to stop Covid-19 over two years ago, and its reopening will spur our economic recovery throughout the remainder of the year," she said. Under the new timeline, tourists from Australia will be able to visit from April 12 and tourists from other visa-waiver countries can visit from May 1. Tourists from non-waiver countries — including India and China — will need to wait longer, unless they already have valid visitor visas. Tourists must be vaccinated and test negative for the virus before leaving their home country and again after arriving in New Zealand. “I know from visiting tourism operators, and talking to their staff, how tough these past two years have been,” Ardern said. “And not only because of the massive loss of tourism revenue, but because we lost something we derived so much of our identity from.” New Zealand is renowned for its beautiful scenery and adrenalin-inducing adventure tourism. The announcement comes as a timely boost to ski fields trying to plan for the upcoming Southern Hemisphere winter. “Tourism operators finally have confirmation they can get back to business,” said Ann-Marie Johnson, a spokesperson for Tourism Industry Aotearoa. “Tourism was the first industry to be affected by the pandemic and will be the last to recover. Tourism operators both large and small have made huge sacrifices but can now focus on rebuilding their businesses." Over the past couple of weeks, New Zealand has been reporting about 20,000 new virus cases each day, its biggest outbreak since the pandemic began. The nation's Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins on Wednesday became the latest high-profile person to test positive. But experts expect the omicron outbreak to fade quickly from its peak, as it has in many other countries.

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Kerala Travel Mart gets huge response from domestic and foreign buyers

Kerala Tourism's flagship event - The Kerala Travel Mart which is all set to go offline after the 2021 event being held virtually following the pandemic, has got a huge response. It is now scheduled to be held here from May 5 to 8. The inaugural session of the KTM on May 5 will be followed by business meets from May 6 to 8 at Kochi. Baby Mathew, President of KTM Society the organiser of the event, said so far 374 foreign buyers and 1171 domestic buyers have registered for participation in the event, and the number is set to go up in the coming days vouching for the industry's confidence in the post-pandemic. "The industry's response to the ensuing edition of KTM has been extremely encouraging, especially after the Government of India announced its decision to lift air travel restrictions this month. The enquiries so far have even surpassed the response received by the pre-pandemic KTM conclaves", said Mathew. The pro-active steps taken by the Kerala Tourism Department for the quick revival of tourism in the state have imparted an added thrust to KTM, he said.

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Morocco, Ryanair agree to open 37 routes - tourism office

Morocco's tourism promotion office ONMT and Ryanair signed a deal to launch 37 routes linking Moroccan tourist hubs to 45 European airports, the office said on Thursday. The new routes will serve 10 Moroccan airports and help Ryanair increase seat capacity to Morocco destination this summer to 2.07 million passengers, up 54 per cent from 2019 before the pandemic, ONMT said in a statement. Recurrent border closures during the last two years have slammed the tourism sector. Tourism generated USD 8 billion, or 7 per cent of Morocco's economy, in 2019, when the country received 13 million tourists. In 2021, tourism revenue dropped to USD 3.5 billion.

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