Summer is coming up and people are beginning to think of going abroad on holiday. Some countries are thinking of opening up (Greece) while others are allowing their citizens to go abroad (UK). Switzerland's immunization strategy is at a snail's pace and most of us haven't been vaccinated.

My questions:

1. What countries already allow tourists into their country?
2. What countries are planning to open up this summer for tourists?
3. What are your views about travel abroad?

My personal and very simplistic view is that if you're vaccinated, you should be allowed to travel. However, I realize there's still a small percentage that an immunized person can still catch the virus and be contagious. Nevertheless, the odds of this are low and the global economy needs to be reenergized.

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Faith isn't about everything turning out okay. Faith is about being okay no matter how things turn out.

First up, the countries that are accepting tourists:

https://www.afar.com/magazine/travel...hese-countries

Then the countries that have decided to accept tourists will have to deal with this:

https://www.reuters.com/article/heal...-idUSL8N2M05AB

For the foreseeable future, I can see PCR tests being required even if you are vaccinated. And what about variants? We don't even know if the current crop of vaccines will raise robust antibodies to, e.g., the Indian variant.

I guess there are probably many other countries not included in the list, e.g. Turkey.

A major problem imo is what if you get +ve while travelling? You need to either wait until -ve PCR or have one of the special travel insurances that repatriates sick people. Neither sounds attractive to me...

I doubt you will be repatriated unless medically necessary, so unless you are in a 3rd world country it won't happen. Testing + & needing to isolate won't be enough.

The chances of getting a serious case of COVID following the vaccination is very slim. I personally don't see this being a problem.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/01/how-...for-covid.html

$675 for 15 days, no thanks

The problem is that the list is only of those countries who've said they will accept vaccinated tourists from the US. I don't think it's relevant to an unvaccinated tourist from Switzerland.

We've still got a trip to Egypt booked for next month, and as far as we can tell at this point we will just need a -ve test to be allowed in. It's not yet clear to us whether we need another one to come back or not, and how/where to get it done if so.

It would have been nice to get the vaccinations done before this trip, but although we could possibly now get a first jab done there's not enough time for the second one so it wouldn't be accepted in lieu of testing, I think. Anyone with more details, I'd love to hear them.

If you read the article for each country, it gives requirements for *any* tourists.

There have been stories in the news about travelers getting their PCR in order to board a flight home, testing positive, and subsequently being stranded in hotels. If you continue to test positive, you may never get home...there was a story about a guy on one of the early-Covid cruise ship evacuations. One young crewman tested positive and continued to test positive for months. I think they held him for 160+ days until he threatened suicide.

And further to Ace's point, the countries insisting on vaccination will quickly realise that the passports are not worth the paper they're printed on (probably after a concentrated outbreak of some weird-o variant) and will then go back to a PCR-based system. I wonder where that will leave those who have been vaccinated but have only a piece of paper to prove it? The EU has been working on an electronic passport, but will it be accepted as proof? If it is, and the paper one is not, that leaves a whole bunch of folks in limbo. I know Austrian residents are already in a database, but what of the others?

Once the countries get a whiff of tourist money, they will probably figure out a solution for all those European non-vaccinated. In our neck of the woods, it has been an absolutely hellish year for our little tourist industry. Recently someone saw our exotic license plate at the recycle centre and exclaimed, "Oh I wish I could see more foreign license plates!"

Easy question Just look at where Edelweiss is flying: Cancun, Catania, the islands from Portugal and Spain, Maldives, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. Not bad.

https://www.flyedelweiss.com/en/dest...veltime=2021-4

PS. I consider Edelweiss a relevant signal because when things went awry on March/April 2020 the Swiss diplomacy found a way to return stranded people from Morocco, Peru and Costa Rica.

My Pfizer jabs are only 3 weeks apart, My wife's Moderna 4 weeks apart so you could still be in with a chance.

According to someone I know, Iceland is open for tourism. They decided to encourage it, then again it is one of the drivers of their economy. As I understand, negative PCR or proof of having the virus are the conditions.

Also, it is 13 degrees during Icelandic summer. I'd rather stay in Switzerland.

So, we've got:

Iceland, Croatia, Greece and Turkey so far.

Edit: The complete list from the article includes:

Anguilla
Barbados
Belize
Croatia
Cyprus
Ecuador
Estonia
Republic of Georgia
Guatemala
Israel
Iceland
Montenegro
Nepal
Poland
Seychelles
Slovenia

Edit: Additions
Malta

Malta will be open, you will need to wear a mask on the beach, unlike in Spain where you can be mask free.

I think that the Germans have finally realised that masks out in the fresh air are a stupid idea. We were just in ES and saw masked people running out in the middle of the countryside with no one for miles.

That’ll give a whole new meaning to the concept of tan lines.
Perfectly tanned boobs but weirdly tanned face.

Not sure what the Summer will bring for masking on Spanish beaches. I thought I heard last week that masks would be compulsory in all public areas, but there is a lot of pushback. The rules seem to be evolving due to pressure from the public and the travel industry.

Stay tuned!