Israel is prioritizing safety procedures more than most other countries when it comes to reopening to tourism, adopting relatively strict entry requirements compared to others, an industry source told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.
“Countries around the world are open to varying degrees,” the source said. “You have countries like Australia and New Zealand, which are totally shut to tourists, and then there is the European Union, which says that EU citizens can only move from country to country under certain conditions. Then you have countries like Estonia, Iceland and Slovenia that are letting in vaccinated people from certain countries only.”
“Then, on the other hand, we see countries like Greece, Cyprus and Portugal rushing to let people in as fast as they can. As a rule of thumb, countries whose economies are heavily dependent on tourism are willing to take greater health risks to reopen than others. In Israel, about 250,000 people are in the tourism industry, but in others, it makes up 20% of GDP.”
According to the latest plan from Israel’s Tourism Ministry, tour groups from overseas will be allowed to come into the country in June, and to private individuals starting in July. All visitors will be required to have received two doses of a recognized novel coronavirus vaccine, as well as a negative PCR test done within 72 hours of the flight in order to enter. A test will also be required once the passenger arrives in Israel to confirm the vaccination. A certificate of recovery from COVID-19 will not be sufficient to enter, making children under 16 unable to enter the country.
“There are countries that are letting in unvaccinated small children if they have passed a PCR test, but for most countries, children are off-limits at this point,” the source said. “Even the most lenient countries in the world at this point are still requiring a PCR test to enter. Meanwhile, Israel is the only country in the world that is also requiring its vaccinated visitors to do serological tests upon arrival to confirm the vaccinations.”
Health authorities are also seeking to restrict travel from high-risk countries, which currently include India, South Africa, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, which publishes travel guidelines that nations are not required to follow, is expected to vote soon to possibly lighten some of its restrictions in light of growing vaccination numbers is expected to be voted upon within the coming day.
“Preliminary scientific evidence and growing empirical data (e.g. the temporal link between mass vaccination and the decrease in virus transmission in Israel, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates), support developing a revised approach for the safe lifting of restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU,” the position paper stated, offering a number of technical changes.
I’d say Israel is probably the country with the widest margins of error and the safest procedures in place of those who are at all opening,” the source concluded.