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Around mid-March 2020, most countries entered some form of lock down in an effort to contain outbreaks of the novel coronavirus (nCov-19). As part of these lock downs, most forms of tourism were disallowed due through a variety of mechanisms such as visitor bans on non-citizens/non-residents, quarantines for incoming international travelers and hotel shutdowns. Since the beginning of May 2020, these lock down measures have been successful in reducing active COVID-19 caseloads in some places resulting in plans to lift previous COVID-19 restrictions.

The question is: Which countries have allowed or set concrete plans to allow inbound international tourism? In order to qualify, all the following criteria must be met:

  1. Individuals who are not citizens or residents of that country may be granted entry for tourism purposes.
  2. Individuals who arrive from abroad are not required to spend a full 14 days in quarantine once arriving because one of the following applies:
    • no inbound quarantine obligation exists
    • certain international locations are exempt from quarantine obligations
    • tourists are exempt from quarantine measures
    • quarantine obligations can be removed upon testing negative for COVID-19
    • etc
  3. Basic touristic services such as hotels or other overnight accommodation services are permitted to operate. (Although many popular tourist attractions may be closed due to crowd/hygine restrictions.)
  4. There exist reasonable mechanisms that allow international travelers to come to the country.
  5. There are no other obvious hindrances which block pragmatic international tourism.
Jacob Horbulyk
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    Not sure if it's a good question here - stuff with COVID-19 restrictions changes every day. Answer provided today has a high change to be outdated tomorrow. – pbm May 11 '20 at 13:45
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    (+1) I think the question is fine, even if the answer will probably be “none” at the moment (but it could be updated later). But isn't called “SARS-CoV-2“ instead of “nCov-19” now? – Relaxed May 11 '20 at 15:03
  • The reopening of external borders for non- essential travel is at present a very low priority and will probably remain so until some form of vaccine exists. The relatively unrestricted travel (i.e. other than immigration) that existed before 2020 will probably not be resumed. When serious thoughts are maded on this matter, casual travel (tourism) will probably remain a low priority. Such thoughts will probably only start after the next winter season, after a possible 2nd (and possibility 3rd) wave. – Mark Johnson May 11 '20 at 19:49
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    @MarkJohnson That's actually not true. Tourism is very high on the list of priorities for the many regions and countries that depend on it economically. It's more difficult to revive, which is the main reason it will take longer, but there is no reason it should be considered intrinsically less important than car factories, fashion stores, restaurants or hairdressers and I would be very surprised if nothing is attempted (even foolishly) long before a vaccine is widely available. It's certainly already being discussed. – Relaxed May 11 '20 at 20:17
  • @Relaxed The problem is the how, not the wanting to. The problem is at the moment that during the first 2 weeks no reliable test exists to determine that someone is infected (thus the 2 week quarantine at present). This is the main problem and will remain so until a vaccine exists. Also the immunity of previously effected peaple is not yet clear. There are reports that they are still carriers (i.e. the virus is still in their system and can be passed on). Until these things are clarified mass travel will be difficult. A 2 week quarantine for tourists is unreasonable. – Mark Johnson May 11 '20 at 20:48
  • @MarkJohnson How is a very big problem, just as it is for many other things. I agree with that, I wrote as much in my earlier comment. But, for better or for worse, I fully expect some countries to try to compromise on public health guidelines just as others are doing now to reopen shops and factories. You can already see hints of what it might look like in the proposals to open Austria to German tourists or create “tourists corridors” to Croatia. I have no idea whether and how it will happen but you can clearly see it's a very high priority for these countries. – Relaxed May 11 '20 at 22:25
  • @Traveller Those are internal Schengen borders, not external. Austria, Croatia and Greece, where togeather with Germany and Switzerland have a low active rate of cases (Germany just under 12%) will probably serve as a blueprint on how this can be organized safely. It has not been forgotten that the first major spread in Europe was caused after vacationing in the alps at the end of February. I think that only after regular travel within the Schengen area is safely possible will thoughts be made about it external borders. This will take time. – Mark Johnson May 12 '20 at 02:50
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    Does it matter if the entire country is open or not? The US might be technically a possibility, but only in some states. – JonathanReez May 12 '20 at 06:31
  • @JonathanReez Parts of coutries being open are fine. – Jacob Horbulyk May 12 '20 at 09:14
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    Surely "being able to be a tourist" should be among the criteria? For if you can freely travel to and stay in e.g. Paris but you are not pemitted to explore the streets, parks, restaurants, cafés, bars, clubs, churches, cathedrals, galleries, museums etc - to do tourism - what is the point? – Lag May 12 '20 at 11:32
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    For condition 3 see Where can I find an up-to-date list of COVID-19-related curfews and business closures in different countries? – Franck Dernoncourt May 13 '20 at 03:32

1 Answers1

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EU +

EU+ is loosely used to refer to countries in the EU, European Economic Area, Switzerland, the UK and Schengen Microstates.

Pretty Open

Countries in this section are open to a majority of other European countries

Only Partially Open

Countries in this section meet the above criteria in a very limited way

Closed

Non-EU

Open

Closed

Sources

Mandatory disclaimer: just because it's possible to go somewhere doesn't mean it's a good idea to do so!

This answer is a community wiki, so please pitch in with updates with reputable sources, ideally the country's own immigration or health department.

Jacob Horbulyk
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lambshaanxy
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  • Japan might also meet the criteria. – Jacob Horbulyk May 12 '20 at 09:09
  • Italy appears to have announced June 3 as an opening date: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-decree-idUSKBN22S00P?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2J2gPAUXg3QBoETsn-BrsO4tBzrtPTsGFvxk2cEcZ-Uge14e8p97ArDjg – Jacob Horbulyk May 16 '20 at 03:01
  • US state by state breakdown: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/states-reopen-map-coronavirus.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwAR2dP7oMh90nmVP6yWH--fcaRFIBpZPLZWr97gUf-VOO6rgG7BHwbLnHROI – Jacob Horbulyk May 16 '20 at 03:03
  • @JacobHorbulyk This answer is a wiki, please edit it directly. – lambshaanxy May 16 '20 at 03:32