Turkish Cyprus to offer quarantine-free vacation to visitors

LEFKOŞA

Turkish Cyprus authorities have introduced a new arrangement to ensure that tourists who come to the island have a safe and healthy holiday without mandatory quarantine.

Those who will visit Turkish Cyprus will be able to have a five-day vacation without quarantine restriction or vaccination obligation on the condition that they only stay within the hotel boundaries with electronic wristbands starting from June 7.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ersan Saner announced that the “closed tourism” to be applied in certain hotels would be limited to 10 charter flights per week, and free entry for fully vaccinated persons would be allowed under certain conditions.

Requesting 10-day quarantine and double PCR tests from passengers visiting the northern part of the Mediterranean island in line with the COVID-19 measures, Turkish Cypriot authorities launched an electronic wristband practice recently, with a limited number of tests.

A small number of wristbands were used at first for adults with young children and senior citizens to spend their quarantine periods at their homes instead of quarantine hotels.

Later, the government decided to open up when the “closed tourism” practice applied to a small number of tourists for three days was successful.

Those who want a five-day vacation without quarantine in Turkish Cyprus will have to download a mobile phone application prepared by the country’s Healthy Ministry before traveling.

A second PCR test will be performed at Ercan Airport for those who board the plane with a negative PCR test result taken at most 72 hours before the trip.

Electronic wristbands will be paired with the application installed on mobile phones, while hotel boundaries where visitors will stay will be registered at the airport.

Visitors will also sign a letter of undertaking that includes penalties for violating the rules.