Following a Tourism Task Force Committee meeting, Seychelles’ Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde, has announced that the island will officially reopen to travellers from all countries except South Africa, as of March 25th.
1. Requirements
Visitors to Seychelles will be required to present a negative PCR test taken 72 hours prior to departure, however vaccination status is not required. There will also be no quarantine requirements for visitors, however they will be required to wear face masks, social distance and use sanitisation practices. Travellers will have access to all communal areas within a hotel’s property, including bars, spas and swimming pools.
Bonne nouvelle: les Seychelles 🇸🇨 viennent d’annoncer la réouverture des frontières des Seychelles aux visiteurs du monde entier, à l’exception provisoirement de ceux provenant d’Afrique du Sud, à compter du 25 mars 2021.@SeychellesFAD @visitseychelles pic.twitter.com/Aq4RKzliAb
— Ambassadeur Chasper Sarott (@SwissAmbTana) March 8, 2021
2. Seychelles vaccine rollout
Minister Radegonde cited a key factor in the relaxing of these measures was the country’s aggressive vaccination campaign made earlier in the year. He stated, “The vaccination campaign has been quite successful. The government has done everything in its power to make sure that the population is protected. We have now arrived at the point where opening our borders further is the next step to allow for our economic recovery. The measures being announced reflect broadly the recommendation of our tourism partners and have been done in full consultation with and the endorsement of our health authorities.”
Minister Sylvestre Radegonde expressed his gratitude to the #GOI for the donation of 50,000 doses of COVISHIELD vaccines to Seychelles. He thanked his counterpart Dr. Jaishankar, for ensuring the expeditious delivery of the vaccine to Seychelles @DrSJaishankar @hci_seychelles pic.twitter.com/slKCi3RZCf
— Seychelles FAD (@SeychellesFAD) January 22, 2021
Seychelles is the first African country to launch a comprehensive COVID-19 immunisation campaign, which began in January 2021. According to the New York Times’ Global Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker, Seychelles ranks second only to Israel in the number of vaccinations, having at least partially vaccinated 57.8% of its population and completely vaccinated 25% of its population so far.
