South Africa is now one of a select group of ten countries whose residents may enter the Seychelles. The Seychelles government has given its permission for residents of these countries to enter Seychelles from Monday, October 19.
According to Border Air, the GSA that represents Air Seychelles in Southern Africa, residents of the following African countries will be permitted to enter the archipelago: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Niger, Burundi, Ghana, Rwanda, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya.
Seychelles has so far recorded an exceptionally low number of cases and there has been no community transmission or deaths associated with the virus, said a press release from Border Air.
Protocols have been put in place to ensure safe travel and stays for its visitors.
There could be an obstacle to this new permission - Seychelles has two categories of leisure visitors, but it is still not clear into which category South Africans will fall. Category 1 requires only a negative PCR test within 72 hours of departure from origin, and visitors take up their accommodation in the normal way. Travel News will update the industry when this is more clear.
Category 2 requires a negative PCR rest within 48 hours of departure from origin, followed on arrival by a five-day quarantine period at a designated hotel, and then another PCR test. If the test is negative, the visitor is only then free to roam at will.
Air Seychelles has announced weekly flights to Johannesburg fromNovember and says it will move to three flights a week from December.