Who knew I'd be right back here writing an update on Europe just days after the last one. Literally within just minutes of posting my last blog update last week I was receiving news releases on country updates that did not make it into my last piece. As much as I thought about just updating last weeks post, I decided to write a new piece on these updates instead.
I waited until the end fo the week to write that post, awaiting the EU countries updates all week before deciding to proceed with that write up....figures that updates came over weekend and not before it. Oh well gives me something to write about eh?
Ok ready here we go.
1. Netherlands got really aggresive with it! Effective this week Netherlands has closed it's borders pratically to all US arrivals with some exceptions. Those being that even if vaccinated & tested negative pre arrival, US arrivals will still require to quarantine for 10 days on arrival. So for tourism and cruise purposes Amsterdam has just pretty much become a no go for this fall. That 10 day quaratine kills tourism completely, which must have been their goal.
2. Sweden, simply says no. Sweden put out notice over the weekend that at this time the will follow the EU guidance recommendation and close to all non-essential travel from US. They went on to say they are working on a timeline & plan to allow US vaccincated travelers into the country, but at this time those requirements and time lines are not in place yet, So Sweden is out completely until futher notice!
3. Denmark, goes the vaccine route, US visitors to Denmark will have no quarantine requirements in place, but you must be vaccinated. Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark is accessible to US vaccinated travelers.
4. Norway will remain open to vaccinated US travelers, with no quarantine in place.
5. Greece will remain open & keep same entry policy in place of requiring arrivals either be vaxxed, negative tested with 72hrs (rapid or pcr), or had covid and recovered.
6. France will remain open & keep same vaccinated, neg tested or recovery of in place, in addition to France's green pass to visit most indoor facilities in the country being required.
Other EU countries that remain open and have not announced any changes include Germany and Portugal.
In other news a brief about the covid situation in Asia crossed my desk over the weekend, and I can sum up that brief in 5 words. "Not Until At Least 2022", as the report disclosed covid numbers, vaxxed numbers, and likelyhood of each Asia nation reopening in 2021 at almost nil.
The one country going against the norm in Asia right now is Thailand. Thailand is set to reopen more of its popular tourist destinations starting next month, betting that a higher local inoculation rate can help draw more foreign visitors and revive an economy.
This includes the capital city Bangkok, and Chiang Mai as well as beach resorts Pattaya, Cha-Am and Hua Hin from Oct. 1 will be modeled after an initiative to bring back vaccinated tourists to Phuket, tourism ministry officials said. More destinations, including Chiang Rai, Koh Chang and Koh Kood, may fully reopen for visitors from mid-October. It's unknown if these reopenings will include the US for tourism at this time.
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