Malta to welcome vaccinated Brits from June
Malta has become the latest country to announce that it will welcome the return of British holidaymakers this summer.
The Mediterranean island, which usually attracts around 500,000 tourists from the UK each year, said British travellers who have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine will be allowed to enter from 1 June.
Passengers will be required to prove they have had both coronavirus jabs at least 10 days prior to arrival before boarding flights to the country, according to the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA).
Travellers will need to show their vaccination cards when boarding, and will no longer need to show a negative PCR test.
Malta joins Greece, Cyprus and Portugal in giving a firm date for when holidays might be possible for inoculated British travellers.
The countries each announced earlier this month they allow tourists who have either been vaccinated, already been infected with Covid or who can provide a negative PCR test to visit from14 May.
Malta has so far vaccinated around 40 per cent of its adult population, making it second only to the UK in the list of European countries progressing with their vaccine rollouts.
Tolene Van Der Merwe, director of the UK & Ireland of Malta Tourism Authority, said: “Malta is a very popular destination for British holidaymakers and is a key contributor to Malta’s economy, so we are excited to welcome back fully vaccinated travellers from the United Kingdom from 1 June 2021.
“The people of Malta are looking forward to tourists returning who have loved our sunshine, culture, food and warm spirit year in year out.”
Malta’s tourism minister Clayton Bartolo yesterday unveiled a €20m (£17m) aid package to kickstart the nation’s battered tourism industry. The country’s tourism-heavy economy lost €2.2bn annual spend during the pandemic last year.
Bartolo said: “The health and safety of Maltese citizens and tourists will always be our top priority, and with the continued rollout of the vaccine here in Malta, this focused reopening plan is designed to slowly and safely reopen tourism to fully vaccinated Britons.”
The UK is currently on Malta’s so-called red list of countries, meaning unvaccinated Brits are unable to enter the country.
Meanwhile, international travel out of the UK is currently prohibited under England’s lockdown rules, besides various exemptions including for work purposes.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has earmarked 17 May as the earliest possible date for the resumption of foreign travel under his roadmap for leaving lockdown.