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Current Affairs

Travel restrictions update

What countries already lifted the travel bans?

After our previous article, about the new normal of international traveling, there was still a doubt (which appeared among some followers of my facebook page) about travel restrictions update:

Allright, travel corridors (or bubbles) are being established across the planet, but what about the other countries? When my next destionation will open borders?

So we decided to compile a list of the main destinations and their status regarding international travel restrictions update. If there is a place that you would like to know, just write it at the comment section and we at Colligere Expat Consultancy will seek information about it.

Last Update: 03/06/2020

Cyprus will soon reopen borders with Greece and Israel. — Cyprus is one of the countries at the most advanced stages of reopening borders.

Travel restrictions updates by country:

Argentina: Argentina’s borders are closed to foreign nationals and non-residents entering the country. Ski resorts like Las Lenas already announced that may not open for the winter season.
Australia: All foreign travellers are banned.
Austria: Anyone entering Austria from Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovenia or Switzerland, or has in the last 14 days been in an area with travel warnings from the Austrian Foreign Ministry must present a medical certificate no older than 4 days.
Belarus: Arrivals from countries affected by coronavirus must self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of symptoms.
Belgium: You will only be able to enter Belgium if you live there or if you work there. The government has announced plans to gradually reduce restrictions and reopen borders.
Brazil: The Brazilian Government have banned entry for all foreign passengers.
Bulgaria: The Bulgarian Government has announced severe restrictions on international travel, forbidding various nationalities.
Canada: Canada has closed its borders to most foreign visitors.The border between the US and Canada is also closed except for essential journeys.
Colombia: Borders closed, including with Ecuador, and airports closed to international traffic.
Croatia: Croatia has reopened border crossings on major routes for limited people, including foreign nationals who have real estate in the country, who own a boat in the country, have close family in Croatia or invited for business purposes.
Czech Republic: EU citizens making business trips of three days or less can enter the Czech Republic. They need to have evidence that they have tested negatively for Covid-19. In the last week of May they entered the final phase of easing restrictions and now pubs, restaurants, hotels and museums are reopening their doors.
Cyprus: While travel restrictions are still enforced for foreign tourists, the government is advancing on plans of easing them, together with Greece and Israel. Cyprus is so keen to get its tourism industry back on track that they are offering to cover the costs of any travelers who test positive for Covid-19 while on vacation in the island. Flights from Greece, Malta, Bulgaria, Norway, Austria, Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Israel, Denmark, Germany, Slovakia and Lithuania will return first, with Switzerland, Poland, Romania, Croatia, Estonia and the Czech Republic also to be back in June. UK is absent of the list.
Denmark: Travel restrictions still applied, but advanced plans to reopen the border with Germany.
Georgia: Domestic tourism will re-open on 15 June. From 1 July Georgia’s land and air borders should re-open in line with the principle of safe corridors. There will be a gradual resumption of flights and international tourism.
Germany: The Austria/Germany land border is reopening — travel between Austria and Germany will come back from June 15 — and restrictions around the country are being relaxed. Bars are still closed but hotels are permitted to open again since May 29.
Greece: Together with Cyprus, Greece is gradually beginning to ease its lockdown restrictions and is hoping to be open to tourists by 15 July. Citizens are now able to take ferry’s to Greece’s Aegean islands as the country started its summer holiday season three weeks earlier than expected.
Egypt: All international flights are suspended.
Estonia: Only citizens of Estonia, holders of an Estonian Residency Permit or foreign citizens whose family member lives in Estonia are permitted to enter Estonia. Plans to reopen borders with other Baltic countries.
Iceland: The Icelandic Government intends to ease restrictions on international arrivals by 15 June at the latest. Details have not yet been finalised, but it is expected that arrivals will have the choice between a test on arrival or two weeks self-isolation.
India: All scheduled international and domestic commercial passenger services will remain suspended until at least 31st May. India has also now made the decision to close the Taj Mahal. All foreign nationals are barred from entering and transiting through Indonesia.
Indonesia: Tourism officials have been calling for a“travel bubble” to be implemente d between Bali and Australia.
Ireland: Flights and ferry services continue to operate between Ireland and Great Britain but at a reduced service. New visitors will have to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Italy: Italy has announced it will reopen for travel on 1 June. St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican reopened on May 18 after closing for over two months
Israel: Foreign nationals are not permitted to enter unless they are citizens or residents of Israel.
Japan: Foreign visitors who have visited affected countries are not allowed to enter Japan. State of emergency is lifted from 25 of May onwards.
Finland: Will reopen its borders for foreign workers from the Schengen zone from May 14. Was closed since March 19, due to the Coronavirus developments. From June 1, cafés, restaurants and bars will resume their normal work, but with certain limitations that are still being worked out.
France: The French Minister of Interior has agreed with his German counterpart Interior Minister Horst Seehofer to reopen the common borders by June 15. It was announced on May 29 that the country’s most visited museum, the Louvre, will reopen July 6.
Hungary: Hungary and Slovenia have agreed on a road map towards a gradual reopening of their border by June 1. Hungary started lifting coronavirus restrictions in Budapest from Monday. Residents returning to shops or travelling on public transport will have to wear face masks.
Lithuania: While travel restrictions still on place, there are plans to Lithuania reopen its borders with other Baltic countries in the coming months. Starting from May 15 2020, nationals of Estonia and Latvia will also be allowed to enter the country
Mexico: On 20th April, the Mexican government confirmed that the land border between the US and Mexico will remain closed to all non-essential traffic for a further 30 days. On May, border restrictions got extended due to the increasing number of Covid19 cases. Marisol Vanegas, the state’s tourism secretary, said that We want to revive tourism and expect to start opening sights and hotels sometime between June 10 and 15 but don’t know which ones yet.
Netherlands: Netherland’s government has decided to prolong the entry ban for non-EU citizens, the United Kingdom and the Schengen Area until June 15 due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) developments, the Ministry of Justice and Security announced.
Norway: Norwegian authorities have decided to prolong internal border controls for another 90 days, from May 16. This is part of the country’s efforts to stop the further spread of the Coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19), according to the Ministry of Justice.
Poland: Poland’s borders remain closed for now, but authorities have announced plans to start to re-open to tourists, with new policy measures for visitors and organisations within the tourism sector ahead of expected border openings.
Portugal: There are strict measures in place and there are significant restrictions on movement within the country. The land borders between Portugal and Spain will remain closed until 15 June due to the covid-19 pandemic, according to a resolution by the Councils of Ministers.
Russia: On the 16th March, Russia announced that it will restrict entry into the whole country for almost all foreign citizens from 18 March until further notice.
South Korea: All foreign national travellers are being tested for COVID-19 on arrival in South Korea. Testing may take up to 24 hours and you may be held in a separate facility during this time. If you test positive for the virus you will be transferred to the appropriate healthcare facility.
Spain: Closed borders to all except citizens and those with a Spanish residency. Spain has announced it hopes to reopen to tourism in June.Restaurants and bars in Spain’s biggest cities, including Barcelona and capital Madrid, reopened on 25 of May. From July 1, the they will allow EU travelers to enter without having to quarantine for 14 days.
Slovakia: Travel restrictions still in place, but talks with Austria and Czech Republic to reopen land borders by June.
Slovenia: Airports in Slovenia have now re-opened for passenger transportation. According to the newly adopted changes, borders will be crossable at several checkpoints on-road connections with Austria, Italy and Hungary..
Thailand: Barred all foreign nationals and international passenger flights to Thailand are suspended. Thailand’s borders are expected to remain closed to foreigners until at least the end of June. The ban on International Commercial Flights – excluding repatriation flights — was extended until June 30, but some resorts and hotels have already been given the go ahead to reopen — Hua Hin, located about 200 kilometers (124 miles) of Bangkok, is one of them
Turkey: Passengers who are not Turkish nationals or residents of Turkey are not permitted to enter Turkey. Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, one of the world’s largest markets, is open again, for the first time in two months, since June 1.
USA: General travel ban, although some states like Texas eased its own restrictions. As of Monday 16 March, European travellers are denied entry into the USA. Travel ban to and from South-American countries like Brazil are a possibility in the coming weeks.

Slovakia is reopening its borders with Czech Republic and Austria — One of the first countries to declare lockdown, Slovakia is also one of the first to start reopening borders. Picture of Bratislava.

If you found any mistake or would like to add any country at this list, please write it at the comments. We will be grateful!

Author: Levi Borba, founder of Colligere Expat Consultancy, former RM specialist for the world´s greatest airline. Co-founder of Nearby Airport Hostel Warsaw and author of the book Moving Out, Living Abroad and Keeping Your Sanity.

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Current Affairs

When travel restrictions will be lifted.

The New Normal: Connectivity Bubbles

An increasing number of countries see a light in the end of this dark tunnel of the last months. With the gradual control (at least partially) of the Covid19 pandemic by few nations, governments start to announce measures for when travel restrictions will be lifted.

This article is the refined version of a Linkedin post I wrote that made repercussion there. The post itself came after conversations with other entrepreneurs, colleagues from my former career at the headquarters of the world’s greatest airline, as well as acquaintances in the political/public life.

We came to an interesting scenario for the next 2 years about the international travel market.

International movement will come back.

However, not in the same way as before, but in the form of connectivity bubbles.

Countries in more advanced stages of controlling the epidemic (like Poland, where I live) will reopen gradually to others that achieved the same conditions.

What is “control” of the pandemic?

By controlling the pandemic we understand not only a reduced number of victims, but also a reduced reproductive rate. This rate is also known as R0, if no measures are taken, or Re in a controlled scenario. In epidemiology, R0 is understood as the expected number of new cases directly generated by one contaminated person. Therefore, if in each infectious individual transmit the disease to other 2, the R0 in this place is 2. This reproductive rate will vary across regions depending on factors like demographic concentration, social distancing or isolation of suspected patients.

There are plenty of material about epidemiology. If you are interested, it is worth to check them for a deeper knowledge since this is not my area, which is International Travel. Now, back to our previously mentioned concept of connectivity bubbles between countries that achieved a desirable level of virus control.

Where are the possible bubbles?

Some of those bubbles, where we expect that people movement will gradually resume by mid 2020 are:

Australia <-> New Zealand. The Australian prime-minister Scott Morrison in April gave signals during a press conference of a possible reconnection with New Zealand. His counter-part in New Zealand, Jacinta Arden, made similar statements. Thoughts go as far as including some pacific nations in this bubble, since few were not much affected by Covid19.

Australia and New Zealand corridor — *Both the prime-minister of Australia and New Zealand already outlined the possibility of a travel-corridor between them.*

V4 (Czech Republic <-> Hungary <-> Poland <-> Slovakia). The group of Visegrad, also known as V4, had a remarkably quick response to the pandemic in its initial phase. Poland and Slovakia closed their borders before having a single fatal victim. Nowadays, all of them are among the least affected countries in Europe. Some members are discussing to reopen their land borders to each other already by July.

Poland, Czech, Slovakia and Hungary compared to Sweden regarding Coronavirus — *Comparison between V4 countries (Poland, Czech, Slovakia and Hungary) and Sweden regarding Coronavirus victims. Souce: Ourworldindata.com*

Greece <-> Cyprus <-> Israel. Greece is among the countries that most successfully reduced the speed of the Coronavirus epidemic in Europe. Unfortunately, they are also among the most affected economically, given the fact tourism is responsible to near 25% of their total GDP. Similar situation happens in Cyprus. To relief this burden, both nations plus Israel are negotiating a travel-corridor. This would ease the crisis in the tourism sector by allowing movement between those countries.

The losing side

On the other hand, countries like Mexico and Brazil will be for a long time barred from most of the international travel market, due to numbers still quickly rising. In fact, harsher restrictions are implemented in the US-Mexican border. Meanwhile the government of Florida Ron DeSantis recently submitted plans to the American president restrict travel from Brazil.

Personal digression: this would mean thousands of expatriates, like me, restricted from visiting our families at least until 2021.

In Europe, the always-trendy Balearic islands are considering imposing a travel ban for UK visitors for the whole summer. As the tourist minister Iago Negueruela explained to local media:

There are countries like the United Kingdom that have taken too long to adopt containment measures and that also puts us in a different situation with respect to them.

Balearic Islands to ban UK travelers — The balearic islands may impose a summer-long ban for UK travelers.
Photo: Cala Macarella, Minorca.

From a macro point of view, this should be (relatively) good news for the tourism industry in some places. Examples like Colombia, which will partially absorb the demand previously belonging to Mexico and Brazil, or Greece, able to boast the badge of a safe destination for the whole planet.

Thoughts?

Author: Levi Borba, founder of Colligere Expat Consultancy, former RM specialist of the world´s greatest airline, co-founder of Nearby Airport Hostel Warsaw. Author of the books Moving Out, Living Abroad and Keeping Your Sanity and Budget Travelers, Digital Nomads & Expats: The Ultimate Guide

Receive for FREE! Digital Book - 20 Essential Hacks for Saving Money While TravellingLearn the one single trick to pay almost 60% less in your airline tickets!

Subscribe to our blog and receive for FREE in your e-mail the digital book that will teach you the way to cheaper flight tickets and even an upgrade to Business Class! Written by an author that worked during years in some of the best airlines of the planet.

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