After shutting its borders for travellers, Sri Lanka is finally reopening tomorrow to welcome international tourists once again to its tropical abode. Here’s how your new Sri Lankan holiday will look like, should you wish to travel. By Bayar Jain
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Post 10 months of COVID-19-induced closed borders, Sri Lanka has decided to open its doors for foreign travellers starting January 21, tweets the country’s official tourism account. However, with this reopening, new safety guidelines and protocols have also been introduced.
According to the Sri Lankan Tourism Board’s website, the country’s Ministry of Health has issued safety protocols in consultation with relevant stakeholders and health professionals. While no cap has been implemented with regards to the minimum duration of the stay and a ‘quarantine free’ has been chalked out for all travellers, each visitor is expected to stay at a ‘safe and secure’ certified level 1 hotel for the first 14 days of their stay. During this period, they can enjoy every facility provided by the hotel such as swimming pools, spas, and gyms. In doing so, Sri Lanka hopes on creating a bio-bubble, in turn assuring the safety of local communities, employees of the industry, and visitors.
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The website notes that a ‘safe and secure’ certified hotel is one that complies with the COVID-19 Health Protocols and the Tourism Operational Guidelines. Every such hotel will be issued a QR code unique to the property, which guests can scan to check key information pertaining to the accommodation. Moreover, guests can even report guideline violations along with photo evidence via this code. To ensure smooth functioning of Level 1 hotels, the tourism board has reportedly mandated such properties to abstain from allowing local bookings. And, it is mandatory for international tourists to have a pre-booking at such hotels prior to their visit.
The guideline also mandates applying for a visa via the online Immigration ETA portal. Going forward, this process will reportedly take place on Sri Lanka Tourism’s mobile app, Visit Sri Lanka. While applying for the visa, apart from the hotel booking, travellers will also need to outline details of pre-purchased PCR tests and a mandatory COVID-19 insurance cover. Although the cost of the pre-purchased PCR tests depends on the duration of the stay (pay for two tests i.e. USD 80 or approximately INR 5,850 for a seven-day stay; and three tests for stays exceeding seven days); the mandatory COVID-19 Insurance cover costs USD 12 (INR 877) for a month-long policy of USD 50,000 (INR 36,55,725).
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Before boarding, all visitors are required to carry a negative PCR test result taken at least 96 hours prior to departure, states the website. Further, PCR tests will be undertaken on arrival at the hotel, and another five to seven days after arrival. If found positive, isolation will be made mandatory with transfers to hospitals, if necessary.
Although various steps have been introduced to assure safety, Sri Lanka Tourism has gone the extra mile by creating a bio-bubble with regards to country attractions as well. This means guests can explore places such as Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Yala, Udawalawe, Kaudulla and Wilpaththu national parks, Mirissa whale watching, Sigiriya Fortress, Anuradhapura (excluding Sri Maha Bodhiya) and Polonnaruwa to name a few, states the official website.