In travel news for April 7, 2022 we have an update from the CDC about Jamaica, an update on unvaccinated travel to Spain, as well as travel news from Japan.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has lowered the Travel Advisory for Jamaica to the lowest advisory level, that being level 1. Countries that have a Level 1 designation have very low cases of COVID. Jamaica opened in June of 2020 to travelers. The country created corridors where travelers could go, as well as protections in place for locals and was one of the first countries to receive the World Travel & Tourism Councils Safe Travels recognition. Their hard work allowed the country to continue to welcome travelers through the pandemic.d Jamaica has dropped the Travel Authorization Form, however the country still requires a negative covid test to enter.
In the travel industry things have been changing frequently, and we are again reminded of this with news out of Spain. Yesterday we shared that Spain was allowing unvaccinated traveler to visit the country. Well today that’s changed. Yesterday the Spanish Tourist Office in London announced a change to allow unvaccinated travelers to enter spain. 8 hours later a statement was released claiming that this office has misinterpreted a bulletin from the Spanish Government. So as of today, unvaccinated travelers are not welcome in Spain. To enter Spain you will need proof of vaccination, or proof of recent recovery from COVID. Spain defines full vaccination has having received the most recent dose within the previous 9 months, or having recovered from COVID within the previous 6 months.
Japan is continuing to slowly open up it’t borders. As of Friday Japan will remove the ban of entry for citizens of 106 countries. But don’t grab your passport and book a flight just yet. The Government of Japan is issuing a very small number of visas to foreigners. Those wishing to enter Japan for “touristic purposes” will not be allowed entry at this time. There is currently no timeframe for when tourists will be allowed to visit Japan. There is unlikely to be any change to allowing tourists back into Japan before the parliamentary elections in July, as the cautious approach taken by the government has been very popular with the citizen.