Seychelles welcomes vaccinated tourists

On Thursday, Seychelles re-opened its doors to visitors from anywhere in the world as long as they have taken both doses of the COVID-19 vaccination, said a top tourism official.

In addition to the vaccine, the traveler must also produce a negative PCR test taken within the prior 72 hours, the Minister for Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde told a press conference.

Tourists to the island nation must provide proof of the vaccination through an authentic certificate. With all these in order, the visitor will not need to go into quarantine upon arrival in the 115-island Indian Ocean archipelago.

Seychelles the last several months had put restrictions on which country's tourists were eligible to travel to the island nation because of high COVID rates in many countries.

"We hope that this will open up the tourism industry for the locals primarily for the small hotels who are struggling on La Digue, Praslin, and also on Mahe. And also provide the kick that our economy desperately needs," explained Radegonde.

By mid-March, visitors to the islands will only need to produce a negative PCR test as the country would have vaccinated 70 percent of its local population, achieving herd immunity.

As of Thursday, nearly 2,000 vaccinations had been administered since the program rolled out five days ago.