Fiji has reopened its international borders to fully vaccinated travelers from “Travel Partner Countries” after nearly 20 months of closure due to COVID-19.
Those who have spent at least 10 days in any of the countries listed below are not required to receive the country’s pre-approval.
However, they must spend the first three nights in a “Care Fiji Commitment property,” which is the same old quarantine but with far better marketing.
The list of allowed countries changes on a weekly basis. As of Dec. 3, Fiji’s partner countries are Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, French, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Palau, Portugal, Qatar, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Vanuatu among others.
Those who have been in a non-Fiji Travel Partner Country in the ten days prior to arrival in Fiji must apply for pre-approval and complete a 10-day required quarantine at a government-managed quarantine facility.
Once released from quarantine, all visitors must stay in designated zones where all people, from hospitality employees, to tour operators, are double-vaccinated.
The island country has been gearing up for an influx of foreign visitors since it partially reopened on Nov. 11.
“We’ve noted around 75,000 bookings for the next couple of months, which is outstanding,” said Tourism Fiji chief executive Brent Hill.
“We know our job has just started and we look forward to seeing more tourists coming in 2022.”
On the other hand, Fiji strengthened its restrictions on passengers traveling from Southern Africa amid fairs of the new Omicron variant.
Fiji’s economy took one of the biggest tourism hits worldwide last year, forcing the government to grant unemployed citizens tools and cash to help them become farmers.
So it was no surprise to see the great celebration authorities put in place to welcome the first tourist flight from Sydney.
“To see the Fiji Airways plane full up and for us to welcome those tourists today was so amazing. It was a great, great feeling and I’m glad to have been there personally,” James Sowane, managing director of the Fiji tourism company Tewaka, told Reuters.