People planning their summer holidays may like to consider Cyprus their destination of choice after the country dropped its Covid-19 entry requirements. More than a million UK holidaymakers regularly travelled to the sun-kissed island in the eastern Mediterranean each year before the pandemic hit.
Last year, the island, whose economy relies heavily on tourism, welcomed about 390 visitors from the UK, according to tourism website Statista. But numbers could well start to soar again with the latest update, which has been shared by the government's official travel advice portal.
The latest change means that from June 1 British holidaymakers will no longer have to provide proof of their vaccination status, covid tests or official NHS recovery certificates. The Gov.UK website states: "As of 1 June 2022, passengers travelling to Cyprus will not be required to present any sort of vaccination or recovery certificate, nor a negative COVID test result."
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The update also says that the wearing of face coverings is no longer mandatory for people aged six and over visiting the island. The requirement remains the case, however, in certain settings.
They include while on public transport in Cyprus, and places where vulnerable people may be, such as hospitals and medical centres. But the update basically means that the island is, to all intents and purposes, now fully open and looking forward to welcoming more UK visitors.
Cyprus had been one of the few popular European holidaying countries to maintain its covid travel requirements this spring. It joins Italy in ditching the last of its travel restriction from the start of this month.
As well as hospitals and public transport, however, authorities there have said they would hope tourists will still wear face masks when they are among large groups of people. The same also applies if they are around anyone who is medically vulnerable and in a high-risk group.
In a statement released by the Cyprus Health Ministry, it said: "It is recommended to use masks in places where large numbers of people congregate, for people who belong to vulnerable groups of the population and for people who interact with high-risk people."
The move to scrap the last remaining travel restrictions comes two months after Cyprus dropped its 'flight pass' passenger locator forms for foreign visitors. Tourists visiting the island's beaches and historic sites are reported to account for 10 per cent of its gross domestic produce.
