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Does the corona vaccination bring benefits to travelers?
Absolutely.
Fully vaccinated people can enter more than 20 countries worldwide without quarantine now or in the coming weeks, and the number of these countries is growing.
There are also important countries popular with tourists, such as Israel, Thailand and Barbados.
The requirements are regulated differently from country to country, and not every vaccine is recognized everywhere.
Travelers should therefore always inform themselves in advance on the website Auswaertiges-amt.de as well as with the authorities of the destination country.
Seven EU countries do without quarantine
Of the 27 EU countries, seven already allow entry for vaccinated persons without quarantine: Croatia, Greece, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia.
As the eighth EU country, Cyprus will open its borders to vaccinated people from the EU and several other countries from May 10th.
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In January 2021, Poland was the first EU country to suspend the ten-day quarantine for people who, according to the Federal Foreign Office, “can prove that they had been vaccinated against Covid-19 with a vaccine approved in the EU”. There are no uniform deadlines as of when someone is considered fully vaccinated. In Greece, for example, the second vaccination must have been given at least 14 days before entry, in Romania a ten-day period is sufficient.
For San Marino, which is a landlocked country in Italy, the entry regulations of the larger neighbor apply in principle - however, travelers from countries outside Italy do not need to present a negative corona test if they can prove a vaccination.
The same applies to Madeira: The Portuguese Atlantic island is currently the only region in the country that waives the otherwise mandatory test for vaccinated travelers.
In Slovakia there is basically a 14-day quarantine obligation.
Corona vaccinated people can shorten this considerably by, according to the Foreign Office, undergoing a PCR test immediately after entering the country at their own expense.
The quarantine then ends with the negative test result from the Slovak laboratory, ideally within a few days.
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Denmark is also planning to end the quarantine requirement from May 1st.
This is intended for fully vaccinated people from EU and Schengen countries, provided that the country's risk assessment allows this, reports the Foreign Office.
Germany does not currently meet this requirement, but that may change because the Danish authorities update their list of risk countries on a weekly basis.
From May 10, Cyprus will not have a corona quarantine for travelers from other EU countries and numerous other countries.
The prerequisite is that the visitors are fully vaccinated or can show a negative PCR test that is not older than three days.
A vaccination with the Russian active ingredient Sputnik V is also accepted.
The regulation applies to all states in the Schengen area as well as to visitors from the USA, Great Britain, Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand.
Vaccinated Israelis have been allowed to enter Cyprus quarantine-free since April 1.
Israel is one of the countries in the world with the highest vaccination rate against Covid-19.
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Spain also intends to make it easier for vaccinated people.
The Balearic Islands with their main island Mallorca are to be the first Spanish region that will allow vaccinated travelers to no longer have to submit a negative test, reports the tourism portal fvw.de.
The pilot project is scheduled to start in May.
According to “Mallorca Magazin”, Spain wants to be “one of the first countries - if not the first” to apply and recognize the uniform vaccination certificate adopted by the EU.
An EU vaccination certificate does not automatically mean free travel
The EU vaccination certificate is expected to be ready for use in June.
However, this “green certificate” decided by the 27 member states will not result in uniform travel rules, because the individual countries decide for themselves which advantages fully vaccinated people will have in their area.
Vaccinated persons with the document do not have an automatic EU-wide right to entry without quarantine.
Outside the EU, four countries are currently granting quarantine-free entry for vaccinated persons, namely Montenegro, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Serbia - although entry restrictions in Serbia only apply if the traveler in Serbia has been vaccinated against Covid-19 and can present a Serbian certificate .
Travel facilities are also made easier for Iceland, however, according to the Foreign Office, a short quarantine is still required: “At the moment, travelers with a vaccination certificate also have to have a PCR test carried out upon arrival.
The result is to be seen at home.
In the event of a positive test result, insulation will be ordered. "
Overseas, four countries open their borders to vaccinated people
Outside of Europe there are currently four countries that prefer vaccinated travelers or are planning to do so soon.
These are all important tourist destinations: Israel, Thailand, Ecuador and Barbados.
The British Caribbean island of Anguilla is also planning to make travel easier.
According to the Israeli State Tourist Office, international travelers will be allowed into the country again from May 23, 2021 after borders have been closed to tourists for more than a year.
Two phases are planned: From May 23, travel groups with fully vaccinated participants will be allowed to visit the country.
However, the number of travelers will be limited.
In addition, all visitors must undergo a PCR test before flying to Israel and, upon arrival at the airport, take a serological test to prove their vaccination.
In a second phase, vaccinated tourists are also allowed to travel to Israel individually; the same conditions apply to them.
It is not yet clear when the second phase will begin.
Israel does not allow unvaccinated vacationers into the country.
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In order to revive tourism, Thailand is also planning to open the country to vaccinated travelers in phases.
As part of a pilot project, foreign travelers can travel to the island of Phuket from July 1, 2021 without quarantine, provided they can prove that they have been fully vaccinated against corona, reports the Thai Tourist Office TAT.
A negative PCR test must also be presented upon entry.
An orphaned boat is lying on the coast of Phuket: From July 1, people who have been completely vaccinated against corona can travel to the Thai island without quarantine
Source: Getty Images / Suttipong Sutiratanachai
In phase 2, which begins on October 1st, five more important tourist regions will be opened to vaccinated tourists, namely Krabi, Phang Na, Surat Thani / Ko Samui, Pattaya and Chiang Mai.
The first seven days holidaymakers are only allowed to stay in the respective region, after which they can move freely in Thailand.
Unvaccinated people still do not come to Thailand.
Since April 1, Ecuador has allowed tourist entry without quarantine if a complete vaccination is proven or a negative PCR test is presented.
When entering from Europe, a rapid antigen test is also carried out at the airport, reports the Foreign Office.
If the result is positive, travelers must be quarantined for ten days after entry.
The first islands in the Caribbean facilitate entry
In the Caribbean, Barbados is currently the only country that wants to facilitate entry for vaccinated persons: From May 8, 2021, people who are verifiably vaccinated against Covid-19 will only need two PCR tests, reports the fvw.de portal - one before entry and another one upon entry, for the result of which you have to wait one to two days in quarantine.
As the second Caribbean island, the overseas territory of Anguilla, which belongs to Great Britain, plans to allow fully vaccinated tourists to enter the country without quarantine from July 1.
A negative corona test must also be presented upon entry.
However, only until October - from then on, proof of vaccination alone should suffice for entry.
However, travelers should note that some of the countries that allow vaccinated persons to enter the country with privileges are classified by the Robert Koch Institute as risk areas or areas of high incidence, for example Denmark or Croatia.
This means that holidaymakers who return to Germany from such countries generally have to go through a quarantine and are subject to mandatory testing.
However, the first federal states who are fully vaccinated and return from a risk area are already exempting the quarantine, namely Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate;
other federal states wanted to follow this regulation.
Finnair will soon let vaccinated people fly without a test
Meanwhile, the vast majority of the tourism industry expects that in the future, other countries will make entry dependent on a vaccination against the coronavirus.
This was the result of a survey conducted by the online portal reisevor9.de among more than 1,300 tourism professionals, almost three quarters of whom consider it predominantly or very likely that numerous countries prefer to give vaccinated people entry.
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70 percent believe that in the future only vaccinated people will be allowed to travel around the world until the corona pandemic is over.
67 percent of those surveyed assume that airlines will soon only be allowing vaccinated people on board.
Corresponding rules in the hotel industry are considered likely by 47 percent.
The Australian airline Qantas announced in November 2020 that travelers on international flights would have to present proof of vaccination.
A date has not yet been given for this - a prerequisite for the measure is that certified vaccines are available in sufficient quantities.
From May 11th, Finnair will also accept a coronavirus vaccination certificate instead of the previously mandatory PCR test when traveling to Finland, reports the simpleflying.com portal.
Interestingly enough, the airline already has a proven dose for this.
However, proof of vaccination is not sufficient to enter Finland.
Tourist entries from Germany or other Schengen countries into the Nordic country are still not permitted.
Travelers are only allowed to travel to Germany with a negative test
A corona test is now mandatory for travelers to Germany.
That means: only those who submit a negative result are allowed to enter.
But getting this test is far from easy.
Some even have to sacrifice a day's vacation for this.
Source: WORLD / Alina Quast