Slovenia has opened its borders for tourists from Ukraine after previously imposed restrictions to counter the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, according to an interactive map of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
It is indicated that the regime of temporary entry into Slovenia is allowed for citizens of Ukraine, provided a negative test for COVID-19 by the PCR method (72 hours before crossing the border) or a negative rapid test for the determination of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus antigen (no more than 48 hours before crossing the border), or a COVID-19 vaccination certificate.
The temporary transit regime for 12 hours is also allowed.
Since July 2020, some 1.3 million Ukrainian tourists have visited Egypt, among them about 30 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease have been recorded during this period, Vice Minister for Tourism at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt Ghada Shalaby told reporters on Wednesday.
According to her, during the specified period, among Ukrainian tourists vacationing in Egypt, one or two deaths from COVID-19 were recorded.
Shalaby said that currently, in the main resort regions of Egypt – Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, 400 beds have been prepared for tourists in hospitals, where they can be hospitalized in case of a severe course of COVID-19.
In these clinics, 120 lung ventilators are installed, to which patients can be connected if necessary.
According to Shalaby, if a foreign tourist needs to be hospitalized with COVID-19 in other regions, in particular in Cairo, local clinics are used, in which there is no shortage of places for tourists.
There are always places in clinics if necessary, she said.
Shalaby said that the treatment of tourists from COVID-19 is covered by insurance that tourists purchase.
Commenting on the issues of vaccination against COVID-19, Shalaby said that Egypt recognizes all vaccines registered in the world, including the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine and documents confirming the completion of the full vaccination course.
She did not rule out that over time, Egypt will be able to offer tourists the opportunity to vaccinate against COVID-19 on commercial terms.
Shalaby said that Egypt’s tourism workers are currently being actively vaccinated.
She said that those workers in the tourism industry who have not yet been vaccinated are transferred to those areas of work where there is no direct contact with tourists. Only vaccinated people work with tourists.
Shalaby said the authorities have now increased the allowed hotel occupancy rate from 50% to 70%. At the same time, she predicts that this figure is unlikely to be increased in the near future.
It is unlikely that 100% hotel occupancy will be accommodated, Shalaby said.
The Greek Ministry of Tourism has announced two important changes to the health protocols for tourists entering the country, European Truth said, citing Ekathimerini.
First, the Greek government has decided to allow travelers with a negative rapid test, and not just a PCR test, to enter the country.
Secondly, the minimum age at which children entering the country must provide documents confirming that they are not sick with coronavirus (COVID-19) has been increased. Now children under 12 years old are allowed to enter without such documents. Previously, it was allowed for children under six years old.
All these changes concern people arriving from countries for which it is allowed to travel to Greece and from Greece.
Those traveling to Greece are also given the option to show the EU vaccination certificate in digital or written form instead of a negative test result.
Head of the State Agency for Tourism Development Maryana Oleskiv has said that it is very safe for tourists in Ukraine, but there may be low tolerance to cultural specifics.
“I think that Ukrainians are really very tolerant, but there are different people. This is not about danger. It is very safe for tourists in Ukraine. Here we are talking about a possible certain low tolerance to cultural specifics, which can leave an unpleasant impression about the country,” Oleskiv said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Also, according to her, there are stories of overpricing in the service sector.
“We need to convey the following to people: that when a foreign tourist comes to them, they can earn $100, or they can inflate the price and earn $200. But then this tourist will not return to you, and ten more people will not come on his recommendation, who could spend another $100. When you come to the country, everything around is delicious and people are hospitable, you feel that there is a positive attitude towards you, you want to return. But when you feel that they want to cheat you everywhere, you do not want to come there again and tell everyone about it,” she said.
In addition, Oleskiv announced that this week she would meet with members the Ministry of Infrastructure to develop a systematic solution to the problem of illegal taxis near airports and train stations.
“Now the question arises who should control this situation, either the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety or the National Police. Therefore, clear control mechanisms need to be worked out so that illegal taxis are not able to work in these zones. This is a matter of the country’s image, therefore, taxi operations should be transparent, convenient, understandable for foreigners, safe, with a high level of service,” the head of the agency said
Egypt, according to forecasts, in 2021 will be visited by about 8 million foreign tourists, of which about 1.5 million are Ukrainians, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt Ayman Ahmed Mokhtar Elgammal told Interfax-Ukraine in an exclusive interview.
“Basically, Ukrainians choose Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, beach hotels, from where they go for a maximum one-day educational trip – to see the pyramids and the main attractions of Cairo,” he said.
According to the ambassador, other tourist products are actively offered to Ukrainians.
“We offer to visit a variety of historical attractions, four-day cruises on the Nile from Luxor to Aswan, new areas for water sports, windsurfing. In addition, in the west of the desert there are unique mineral waters and salt lakes, useful for recovery. This year, Ukrainians began to convert attention to such attractions,” the diplomat said.
Elgammal also noted the growing demand for a longer stay of Ukrainians in Egypt. “Egypt is an excellent offer for Ukrainian employees working ‘remotely’: the weather is good all year round, it is close and easy to get to. And we stimulate such tourists: we provide a 20% discount on accommodation for a long period of time, 20 days or more,” he said.
The ambassador named some of the partnership programs to attract new Ukrainian tourists. “We have already launched joint campaigns with tour operators, which run until October 2021. We also have a flight incentive program for airlines, which includes visa facilitation, 50% discount on landing fees, accommodation, and 20% discount on ground handling fees. In addition, we have reduced fuel prices by $0.15 per gallon until the end of 2021,” said Elgammal.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia wants at least 50% of tourists traveling throughout Ukraine to choose the railway, head of Ukrzaliznytsia Volodymyr Zhmak said.
“In these conditions, we pay attention to domestic tourism, since external tourism is going through hard times. Ukrzaliznytsia considers domestic tourism to be one of those directions that can develop and bring funds to the Ukrainian economy. We want to reach a target of 50% of all tourists who travel in Ukraine. Encourage them to change buses to our comfortable passenger cars,” Zhmak said during a roundtable with the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine and tour operators in Kyiv on Thursday.
The head of Ukrzaliznytsia said that the company is already working in this direction.
“We are already lowering the cost of tickets in the first class, we provide a flexible system of discounts for the redemption of tickets long before the departure date. In addition, we reduce a group booking rate. If earlier tour operators had to pay UAH 200 for a tourist of the group, then we reduce it to UAH 80. And then we will introduce a scale: the larger the group, the less you [tour operators] pay for each member of the group,” he said.
