Cyprus announced on Monday that it would open its doors to vaccinated tourists from 65 countries beginning May 10, with visitors not required to pass a Covid examination or undergo quarantine.
“From the 10th of May, we will inform our partners in approximately 65 countries that entry will be facilitated for travelers who have completed their vaccinations without the requirement for negative Covid testing or quarantine,” Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios stated.
Armenia, Bahrain, Canada, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Switzerland, he told the Cyprus News Agency, are among the countries on the list.
Cyprus, a member of the European Union, will welcome visitors who have finished their vaccinations, regardless of when they received the second shot.
According to Perdios, the latest initiative would help revive a sagging tourism industry that was decimated by the pandemic.
Around a month earlier, Cyprus decided that vaccinated Israeli and British visitors would be allowed to visit the east Mediterranean holiday destination without restrictions.
Britain is the island’s most popular tourism destination, accounting for a third of the island’s almost four million visitors in 2019, while Israel is the island’s third most popular destination.
Authorities are waiting for the UK government to decide when Britons will be allowed to go abroad for vacations.
Due to the island’s worsening epidemiological data, Russia, the island’s second-largest tourist industry, has suspended chartered flights until further notice.
“We are optimistic that charter flights will be permitted until our epidemiological image strengthens, which we anticipate to happen in the coming weeks as the vaccine rollout progresses,” Perdios said.
Following a historic spike in coronavirus cases, Cyprus went into a two-week lockdown on Monday.
The pandemic and travel bans have wreaked havoc on the island’s main tourism industry, with arrivals down by more than 84 percent last year.
Tourists must also follow hygiene precautions such as wearing a mask and keeping a safe distance from other people.
Tourism accounts for around 15% of GDP, but earnings are expected to drop by 85% by 2020.
