The Telegraph
The Seychelles has reopened to visitors from anywhere in the world who have received two doses of an authorised vaccine for Covid-19, becoming the first country in the world to do so. In December, Cyprus also announced a plan to waive testing requirements for arrivals who have been vaccinated, making it the first destination to specify that immunised travellers will not need to meet other Covid-related entry rules. However, the country's ministry of health is yet to confirm if this will go ahead, as planned, in March. The announcement from the Seychelles followed the start of its vaccination roll-out: it plans to become the first country to immunise more than 70 per cent of its population under 18. “From there we will be able to declare Seychelles as being COVID safe,” said President of the Republic of Seychelles, H E Wavel Ramkalawan. International visitors are vital to the economies of both countries. The contribution of travel and tourism to the Seychelles' GDP is around 65 per cent; for Cyprus it is 23 per cent. It should be noted that no approved Covid-19 vaccine has yet been shown to prevent transmission of the virus. Other countries have also made steps towards allowing unrestricted, or less restricted, entry to those inoculated against the virus. Iceland allows proof of Covid-19 antibodies for entry in lieu of a negative test result (surely vaccinated tourists will soon be given the same pass). Meanwhile, European Union members are lobbying for a “vaccination passport”, with the EU as a whole considering a bloc-wide certificate. Other nations, such as Israel, have firm plans to launch one. So which countries might be among the next to re-open to immunised tourists? Based on vaccination roll-outs, economic dependence on tourism and support for vaccine passports, these could be in the running. Greece EU countries should adopt a “standardised” vaccination certificate in order to boost travel, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a letter to European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen last week. Mr Mitsotakis said people who have been vaccinated should be free to travel. "It is urgent to adopt a common understanding on how a vaccination certificate should be structured so as to be accepted in all member states," he said, calling for a "standardised certificate, which will prove that a person has been successfully vaccinated". Greece is far down the worldwide leader board of vaccine roll-outs with just 0.8 doses delivered per 100 people. However, mainland Greece and its islands, which remained one of a limited number of quarantine-free destinations for Britons for much of last summer, rely heavily on tourism: the contribution to its GDP is around 21.5 per cent. UAE The United Arab Emirates is at second place in the worldwide race to immunise populations; 19.9 Covid jabs have been administered per 100 people. Meanwhile, the UAE has licence for the Sinopharm vaccine, which it can produce itself rather than importing it. It has begun to donate doses to other, less developed countries: 50,000 were delivered to the Seychelles. Dubai specifically was keen to welcome back tourists in 2020, opening up in July and allowing entry with a short quarantine and negative Covid test. This has since been changed to a negative Covid test taken no more than 96 hours before departure for UK travellers. The contribution of travel and tourism to the UAE’s economy is 10 per cent. Most recently, a UAE airline has launched a vaccine passport. In partnership with the International Air Transport Association, Emirates is one of the first airlines worldwide to trail the IATA Travel Pass, which comes in the form of a mobile app. The pass will allow passengers to create a digital passport to verify their pre-travel Covid test or vaccination meets the requirements of their destination. It will also be used to share test and vaccination certificates with authorities and airlines. Emirates plans to start the first phase of this trial in Dubai, from April; customers travelling to Dubai will be able to share their Covid-19 test results with the airline prior to arriving at the airport.
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