Everything you wanted to know about agreements between countries, where to fly and which countries will be closed for a long time • "Tourists cannot reach as early as June"

• Ben Gurion Airport will not remain empty for long

  Photo: 

  Yossi Seliger

Morbidity data in most countries in the world is improving significantly and the talks and reports on opening countries to tourists without the need for isolation are positive. In the first stage we will not be able to fly wherever we want, we will start with countries with which we will be in agreements, countries that have succeeded in overcoming the spread of the virus similar to the State of Israel and later will join other countries.

Contrary to publications, GNP is open, open and will remain open, but will not return to full operation on June 1. There is no closed agreement yet, GNP is not ready for opening requiring compliance with all requirements that have not yet been sent to its managers. Only after the requirements have been formally set out will Benishman Ben Gurion Airport be in practice, which could take a few weeks. If the recommendations are made in the coming days, we will probably see a start of tourist traffic only towards the end of June and possibly after.

Every Israeli who comes back from abroad is obliged today for home isolation, but if you still have to do it and are ready to go into isolation, we have made you order - where is it allowed to fly, what is the situation in each country and what agreements are formed?

Let's start from the bubble states. The concept of a "traffic bubble" was invented by the spread of the virus and the desire of many countries to revive tourism and movement among them while maintaining a low morbidity. In recent weeks there have been reports of contacts between Israel and Greece and Cyprus, and probably also with other countries, including the Czech Republic and Austria, on opening borders without the need for isolation, in a careful and controlled manner, as a first step in opening the gates to other countries that will successfully deal with the spread of the virus.

Currently, there are some such emerging agreements around the world. The Baltic States, Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania will be the first to implement this model and have already adapted the terms of the transition bubble between the three countries. In the case of these countries, they will in the first stage allow for the need for business and study activities and subsequently enable tourism.

Another agreement that emerged between Germany , Slovakia , the Czech Republic and Austria , countries that were able to deal relatively effectively with the virus. At present, the details of the agreement are unclear, but according to reports, the citizens of the countries can also switch between them for tourism alongside business activities. The only country that has opened its doors to tourism alongside clear restrictions is Slovenia , leaving out of the equation Belarus which has been cut off throughout the last period from what is happening around the world.

Two neighboring and isolated countries, Australia and New Zealand, have already agreed to allow free passage between them, following a very effective response to the spread of the virus. New Zealand is considered a model for success and was the first country to declare victory for the spread of the Corona virus.

What about Israel?

The State of Israel is currently in talks with Cyprus and Greece. It is clear that by mid-June we will be able to fly to these two countries without isolation. At this time, it is unclear exactly how this will be done, what tests we will have to pass and whether we can all relax in the neighboring countries or will there be a limited amount of vacationers that will be part of an initial pilot. In talks between heads of state that have been successful in tackling the spread of the virus, the heads of Austria, New Zealand, Greece, Norway, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, New Zealand and Australia took part and it is possible that once these agreements come into force and prove their success, more countries will join and expand. The circle. It is important to note that, according to the agreements, no state can allow citizens of a country that is not in the agreement without isolation and without the approval of the member states of the agreement.

At the same time, many countries around the world, including Israel, are contemplating the possibility of introducing, without the need for isolation, anyone who will present a test in a predetermined time frame, which is found not to carry the virus. The acceptable time according to all estimates is 72 hours. In some countries, including Austria, tests can already be conducted at the airport and get results within 45 minutes, the cost of the test is about 200 dollars and the establishment of such a laboratory is also being tested in Israel.

China is also among the countries considering introducing negative test results . In Dubai , rapid blood tests are performed to find the virus for outbound flights and the results are received in just 10 minutes.

The United States makes it clear that the situation is still serious and prohibits tourists from entering many countries around the world. Health officials in the country recommend not allowing US tourists and trips in the near future, along with a recommendation for all citizens of the United States who are in the United States to exit.

In South Korea, the visa has been revoked for citizens from 90 countries around the world. South Korea is also considered a success story for dealing with the virus despite recent outbreaks. In Japan, criteria are set that divide countries by risk levels, the criterion being set according to the amount of people infected compared to the size of the population in that country. Israel is at the highest level of risk in terms of the Japanese, level 3 out of 4 and right now there are no countries at level 4. Along with Israel, the countries of Europe and the United States and right now Israelis cannot enter Japan.

Romania has also presented an outline that marks countries by color, citizens of the red states who want to enter Romania will be placed in isolation in a dedicated facility and citizens of yellow states for home isolation. Later, the relief will begin with the citizens of the Yellow States and only then will the citizens of the more dangerous countries, the Red States, continue.

The Hungarian Israelis still forbid foreign entry. Hungarians returning to the country undergo medical examinations. Hungary allows entry and passage of foreign nationals with justifiable reasons and after a thorough examination, but at present there is no way to travel the country and there are no prospects of opening the gates.

European countries that suffered a severe blow, including Spain , France , Italy and England, will not allow tourists to enter their territories in the coming weeks. The person who has made a very optimistic outlook is Italy, which plans to open the tourist season this July and Spain is targeting August. It is important to note that these two countries rely quite a bit on the tourism industry and closing for too long can cause them irreparable damage. In France and England we can probably only travel towards the end of the year and none of these countries is included in the various bubble agreements.

The state of interest to quite a few Israelis, Thailand closed its doors by the end of May and despite the optimistic pictures from the markets, we will not see tourism in the country coming back until August, the gloomy forecast indicates the return of tourism to the country only in 2021.

Vietnam has also closed its doors to foreign tourists and has currently opened its tourist attractions to locals only. In this case too, there is a kind of "traffic bubble" and Chinese and South Koreans will be the first to visit Vietnam in the coming weeks.

Taiwan is one of the countries that has been most effective at countering the spread of the virus, but currently does not allow foreign tourists to enter its territory. Taiwan points to the closure of the boundaries, which led to the victory against the spread of the virus. 

The data was collected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the tourism magazine