Seychelles will begin reopening for tourism. According to Seychelles Nation at a recent press conference Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine Didier Dogley announced reopening for tourism would be done in two phases:
- Phase one: High end clients that arrive by private jets, chartered flights and yachts will be able to allowed in but must head directly to remote island resorts. Each resort will function ‘much like a quarantine facility’ and resorts will be liable if clients do not adhere to these measures.
- Phase two: Starting in July commercial flights will start back up again. Those entering the country will need to do a coronavirus test 48 hours before their flight and must have a voucher at hand confirming the hotel they will reside at. A $50 health fee will be charged to cover the costs of rapid testing, health officials and increased health screenings
It’s interesting to compare the reopening policies of Seychelles and Maldives as I suspect they attract a similar sort of tourist. Both countries are opening to private flights and yachts before commercial flights resume. It’s not clear if Seychelles will do a rapid test on all tourists entering the country like Maldives has proposed or not. Maldives is also requiring tourists stay for a minimum of 14 days, whereas Seychelles has no such restriction.
Maldives is shooting itself in the foot. Practically no tourist enters any of the actual Maldivian population centers, as they all stay on private island resorts. Would be more efficient to apply the restrictions on the Maldivian tourism industry employees rather than the tourists, given the situation. I strongly suspect that they’ll revisit their chosen strategy when the wealthy collectively choose less restrictive options for their vacation.
I’d settle for my community pool to reopen.
Best miles to use if want to visit from USA?
Any filthy rich jetsetters here been to the Maldives yet? If so, is it worth the hassle?
I’m far, far from filthy rich but made the trip in luxury for a pittance of the cash cost. Whether it’s worth it or not is completely subjective. For me, yes it was worth it. I’d go again. But it is a trek, some folks are miserable bored sitting on a beach, even a beautiful one. There’s lots of posts out there on this topic though if you search.