Tourists with a COVID-19 negative certificate issued up to 96 hours prior to the flight can now enter Dubai

By Ian Horswill

Posted on July 17, 2020

The thought of a holiday back in April and May seemed non-existent. Now there are luxury holiday destinations that beckon providing you can prove you do not carry the coronavirus.

Dubai

Tourists with a COVID-19 negative certificate issued up to 96 hours prior to the flight can enter Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. There are pristine beaches, amazing shopping experiences, luxurious resorts and the usual warm Arabian hospitality. Face masks are necessary in public spaces.

Aruba

Tourists with a COVID-19 negative certificate issued up to 72 hours prior to the flight can enter the idyllic Aruba, an island of the Netherlands in the southern Caribbean Sea. An online ED card is mandatory for all visitors to Aruba before boarding to fly to the island.

Aruba has a dry climate and an arid desert, with divi-divi trees, palm trees and cacti-strewn across the landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny clear skies all year-round. January through to March is the peak season.

Salmon pink flamingos strut along Flamingo Beach on the Renaissance Hotels private island. The island is only a short boat ride away from the capital, Oranjestad, but youll need a day pass to access the island unless youre a paying guest.

Egypt

Almost 10,000 tourists visited Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada since the resumption of Egypts tourism at the beginning of July.

Egypts Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said the two Red Sea cities had received 56 flights from Kiev, Zaporizhia, Lafif, and Kharkiv in Ukraine; Minsk in Belarus; Zurich in Switzerland; and from the Hungarian capital Budapest.

Also, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada received three flights coming from Ukraine and Belarus with 587 tourists on board.

Egypt has also reopened Marsa Matrouh, which overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. Face masks are mandatory in public places in Egypt.

The Bahamas

The Bahamas, with its 700 islands sprinkled over 100,000 square miles of ocean, reopened its international borders on 1 July. It requires all arrivals present a negative COVID-19 test that is less than seven days old. Those without proof will have to pay for a test on arrival or quarantine for two weeks.

The Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas (following the US and Canada), with an economy based on tourism and offshore finance. The best island in the Bahamas where you can spend your holiday really depends on the type of trip you are planning to do.

There are islands and cays which work great for families, others for couples, others for activities. New Providence is the most popular destination and Grand Bahama and the Out Islands are the best options.

Bermuda

Bermuda began welcoming back visitors on July 1, requiring arrivals to test negative for coronavirus at least 48 hours prior to their trip and again upon arrival in order to gain freedom of movement throughout their stay.

Bermuda, an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, consists of 181 islands, with the largest known as Main Island. Unlike other areas designated as subtropical, summers are quite mild, with temperatures not rising in most years above 86F (30C) during the hottest months of July and August.

French Polynesia

French Polynesia is open to international tourists and the first flight arrived in Tahiti from France on Wednesday, with a second from Los Angeles on Thursday. Before embarking on the flight, passengers had to prove they were COVID-19 negative 72 hours before departure and have to self-test for COVID-19 in four days.

An estimated 3,000 visitors are expected in French Polynesia by the end of this month, with a further 7,000 visitors expected in August coinciding with Frances summer holiday.

Saint Lucia

The sovereign island of Saint Lucia in the West Indies, on 9 July, introduced updated travel protocols requiring visitors to obtain a negative COVID-19 test within seven days of travel unless they are traveling from the governments designated travel bubble, which includes the following countries: Antigua, Barbuda, Aruba, Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Monsterrat, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos.

Upon arrival, all arriving passengers will be screened, with temperature checks at the airport. Any symptomatic passengers will be isolated and tested; they will be required to remain in isolation at their hotel or government-operated quarantine facility until their test results are obtained if positive, they will be transferred to a treatment facility until they receive two negative test results and are clinically stable.

Likely reopening to tourists: Bali, Indonesia, July 31; Hawaii, US, August 1.

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COVID-19 free? Go on holiday to these countries - The CEO Magazine