Travellers from the UK, may once again visit the Indian Ocean island destination with travellers able to obtain insurance for the destination and the vaccinated no longer required to take PCR tests or to quarantine in an approved hotel on their return back home.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has lifted its advice against all but essential travel to 47 destinations including the Seychelles as part of a simplified system for international travel which has seen the replacement of the traffic light system with a single red list, and reduced testing requirements for eligible fully vaccinated travellers.
The Seychelles Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde has welcomed the move which comes ahead of the half term and winter holidays. “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. 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. 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.”
Visitors to Seychelles have to complete a travel authorisation form on https://seychelles.govtas.com/ and show proof of a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to travel to the destination.
Seychelles was one of the first destinations to fully open up to visitors irrespective of vaccination status last March following a rigorous vaccination programme which saw most of its population vaccinated. It has now commenced administering booster doses of the PfizerBioNTech vaccine to adults as well as vaccinating adolescents. The number of COVID-19 cases has dropped significantly in recent weeks with very few cases occurring amongst tourists.
