Stopover Serbia proving a draw for ‘quarantine tourists’
SERBIA is benefiting from Covid-19 ‘quarantine tourism’ as thousands of Indians make a two-week stopover on the way to other countries.
India has registered more coronavirus cases than any other country except the United States. Its citizens are barred from entering many countries during the pandemic unless they spend two weeks in another country en route.
Serbia has become a popular stopover destination for Indians because it offers them visa-free entry if they have been vaccinated and test negative for the virus.
They are also required to spend at least the first seven days of their stay in
Serbia in isolation, depending from conditions set by their destination countries. They must also take another coronavirus test at the end of their quarantine.
Jagdish, who is from the Indian city of Visakhapatnam, stayed in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, en route to the United States.
Jagdish, who declined to give his full name, said he had waited in India for “some time for things to open up.”
“But things were not opening up … We chose Serbia because we do not need a visa ... and it [Belgrade] is also a beautiful city to explore,” Jagdish said.
Hotel owners said thousands of Indians came to Belgrade in July.
“I would not call this ‘quarantine tourism’, but in the end it comes to that ... there are plenty of hotels which are full,” said Ilija Smiljanic, manager of Mark Group hotels.
In June, Serbia recorded a 48.4 per cent annual increase in tourist arrivals and the number of overnight stays increased by 39.3 per cent the Statistics Office said.
Tourism accounts for around 2.5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. The current rise is welcome as Serbia suffered a loss more than 1 billion euros ($1.19 billion) in revenues last year because of Covid-19 restrictions.