Fully vaccinated tourists allowed quarantine-free entry

As Sri Lanka paves the way to restart tourism, fully vaccinated international travellers who have received the second dose of the vaccine 14 days prior to arrival will now be allowed to enter the country without undergoing quarantine, Sri Lanka Tourism said in a statement this week.

While several restrictions remain for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated visitors, those who have been ‘ double- jabbed’ will have travel restrictions eased, this includes entry into the island without a period of quarantine other than the 24 hours required to stay in a Safe and Secure Level 1 Hotel until the on- arrival PCR test results are available. Once the ‘ Day One’ PCR test report is negative, travellers will be able to leave the Level 1 Hotel and enjoy their holiday, they will be required to undergo a PCR test once again on the seventh day during their travels at a Ministry of Health approved laboratory.

In addition, travellers will require to produce a negative PCR test report done 72- hours prior to boarding the flight as per standard procedure, obtain an Electronic Trave l Authorization ( ETA) via the Sri Lanka Tourism website and purchase a mandatory visitor COVID Insurance coverage costing US$ 12 covering a period of 30 days and a $50,000 cover.

All other visitors travelling as a tourist who are either partially vaccinated or not vaccinated will have to follow standard procedure of quarantining in a Safe and Secure L1 Hotel up to 14 days.

Discussing the long- awaited re- opening, Ms. Kimarli Fernando – Chairperson, SL Tourism, said, “Under current regulations all visitors to the island, whether foreign travellers or citizens, have been subject to stringent regulations. These measures have helped curb the spread of the pandemic while preventing new variants from entering the island. With the success of the national vaccination rollout programme, we are ready to commence operations as usual for fully - vaccinated arrivals and the tourism industry is well prepared to welcome our international travellers while ensuring the safety and security of our communities”.

She said that in preparation for the forecasted influx of tourists, “some strategic initiatives are currently being implemented around the island and with safety and security being our number one priority for both our communities and our visitors we hope to have all our tourism workforce vaccinated by October. Vaccination drives for the industry are currently underway with a vaccination drive for hospitality employees in the Hambanthota district taking place recently”.