British travellers can return to Seychelles after island nation is dropped from UK red list
Tourism |Author: Betymie Bonnelame | October 8, 2021, Friday @ 14:29| 4923 views
Seychelles re-opened to visitors irrespective of vaccination status in March. (North Island)
(Seychelles News Agency) - Travellers from the United Kingdom may once again visit Seychelles starting Monday after the island nation was removed from the UK's red list, said the Department of Tourism.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde, welcomed the move which comes ahead of the half term and winter holidays.
"We are delighted to welcome back our British visitors, the families and honeymooners back to our beautiful islands. UK has always been a strong market for Seychelles, ranking third in 2019 with 29,872 visitors, and we are optimistic that with this great news, we will start seeing them again in significant numbers," said Radegonde.
The removal from the UK red list means British citizens travelling to Seychelles will be able to obtain insurance for the destination and those that are vaccinated are no longer required to take PCR tests or to quarantine in an approved hotel on their return back home.
Radegonde said that "moving off the UK red list is another important milestone in the recovery of the Seychelles' tourism industry and it will provide a boost to the destination as well as its airlines and its travel industry partners."
Tourism is the top pillar of the economy of the group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean.
Seychelles re-opened to visitors irrespective of vaccination status in March. To date, 71,438 people have been vaccinated which is 72 percent of the population of 99,202.
Radegonde said that "with the health and safety protocols adopted by tourism operators and establishments who have received official COVID-19 safe certification, our visitors are assured of a safe and enjoyable holiday."
Under the revised health entry requirements, visitors to Seychelles have to complete a travel authorisation form on https://seychelles.govtas.com/ .
Visitors also need a negative COVID-19 PCR test done within 72 hours of departure and valid travel and health insurance to cover COVID-19 related quarantine, isolation or treatment.
Seychelles is open for all visitors except those directly from Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal and Pakistan.