Cyprus’ decision to allow Britons who received the vaccine into the country ahead of the rest of the EU was prompted by the bloc’s willingness to take a firm stand on Covid-19 protection certificates, yes tourism minister said.
Explaining why the country had broken standards with other EU members by deciding to accept Britain with the certificate from 1 May, Savvas Perdios told the Keeper that the visitors, holidaymakers, and the travel industry on “clarity”, which the degree sought to deliver.
“We felt we had to announce because we don’t know when an agreement will be reached at European level,” said Perdios. “For people who are going to travel here, we wanted to provide confirmation. that Cyprus is about to be ready to welcome them. Travel planning needs proof. “
The move, announced late on Thursday, came as the bloc struggled to form a unified front on “vaccine licenses” that Greece first proposed in January. Countries that rely on tourists on the fringes of south-eastern Europe are becoming increasingly willing to work on their own as they work hard to save businesses from the plague. panoramic.
Cyprus corona cases
Cyprus draws 13% of its national income from tourism, and 10% of its workforce is employed in the region.
Before the outbreak of the pandemic, Britons were far above all others who entered the ancient British colony, which had been divided between the Greeks in the south and the Turks in the north since 1974.
Around 1.3 million UK tourists visited the south in 2019 – almost double the local population. As in Greece, which had pulled the highest numbers before the pandemic but suffered a sharp drop last year, tourism in Cyprus was pumped in 2020.
In February, Nicosia and Athens reached an agreement with Israel allowing citizens with Covid-19 vaccine certificates to travel without a permit between the three countries. The box is expected to arrive at the end of this month.
Perdios said Anglo-Cypriot teams were already in talks to discuss details of how vaccine licenses would work as part of a similar bilateral agreement with the UK.
“It’s a technical issue as to what the certificate will look like.” We have more meetings in the next few days and weeks to finalize everything, ”he said, confirming that the Greek Cypriot authorities were willing to be flexible as to the format of the document. in the end. “We will use whatever the UK government wants us to do. It is up to the UK to decide whether it will be a digital certificate or a GP certificate … We do not want a vaccine certificate to be based on our design. ”
Reserves for the island have risen since Boris Johnson announced his government’s roadmap for England’s third national lock.
Although May 17 was set as the earliest possible date for the resumption of international travel by the British leader, Perdios said Nicosia had also decided to include the UK in quarantine-free travel. as next month. Since the advent of Covid-19 variants, unnecessary travel out of the UK has been banned, except very rarely.
But with Greek Cypriot authorities aware of the island’s large community of British tourists, Perdios said anyone could enter the UK on 1 April receives special permission in line with recently lifted restrictions for entrants from the EU. This week the island began accepting travelers based on a color-coded rural classification system explaining the burden of epidemiological issues of each member state.
“Whatever the division [Britain] internally, people flying in from the UK will not be quarantined unless they test positive and must be placed on their own. We are basically committed to quarantine-free travel from the UK from 1 April, ”he said. “What happens more than that on May 1st and that it will be easy for those with a vaccination certificate to avoid having to test too. “
Cyprus has said visitors must have two shots with vaccines, both approved by the European Medicines Agency.
Tourists who get the virus in the country will still be covered by the Cypriot government, with the state charging “all costs” for them and their dependents in a repetition of a scheme that was launched last year.
“But we’re not just opening up to vaccinated travelers,” Perdios said. “Everyone can travel here, with or without certificates, and of course the date of travel is up to the UK government and when it decides to allow outdoor travel.”