CEO of the Malta International Airport, Alan Borg, has publicly called out Malta’s strict travel entry requirements which forces incoming tourists from red zone countries who are not fully vaccinated (inclusive of booster) to quarantine for 14 days against their own cost at a designated hotel.

Red Zone countries include most European nations, among others.

Currently, there is no mandatory requirement for incoming travellers if they are in possession of a valid recognised vaccination certificate only.

Malta’s authorities have, however, opted for a more stringent interpretation of what constitutes a valid vaccine certificate: a primary vaccine dose – two doses or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson – is valid for nine months across Europe, whereas in Malta it is only valid for three months, after which a booster dose is required for the vaccine certificate to be valid.

For tourists coming into the country from a red zone country without a valid certificate, they must pay €100 per night for 14 nights at a designated quarantine-hotel.

For travellers coming from ‘dark red’ zones, which effectively translates into a travel ban, authorisation is required from the health authorities to enter Malta, and those with a valid vaccine are eligible for the seven-day quarantine.

In addition, a passenger locator form is still required for anyone coming into the country.

Expressing his frustration on social media, MIA’s Alan Borg compared the situation in Malta with fellow European countries, who are ultimately competing for tourism:

“Ireland - abolished all COVID-19 entry restrictions from 6th March.

“Romania - lifted all travel restrictions imposed due to COVID-19, as of 9th March.

“Greece - scrapped all Passenger Locator Forms from 15th March.

“UK - abolished all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions for arrivals from other countries from 18th March.

“The Netherlands - abolish entry rules for all travellers from 23rd March.

“Other countries are easing restrictions whilst currently accepting one of three documents to enter the country - a negative PCR test no older than 72 hours, a vaccine certificate or proof of past infection.

“Malta? With over 1,252,837 doses administered of which 348,409 are booster doses, we're still publishing covid-19 infection rates daily, asking tourists to quarantine for 14 days even though they would be in possession of a negative or recovery certificate and asking Maltese residents to quarantine unless fully vaccinated including a booster dose (or primary schedule taken less than three months ago.)

“What are we waiting for?”

Malta is currently experiencing an uptick in daily COVID-19 cases registered, along with the rest of Europe, however hospitalisation numbers remain low.

Summer 2021 proved to be disappointing for Malta’s tourism stakeholders, after the authorities introduced a requirement for incoming travellers to be fully vaccinated or face a 14-day quarantine period from July 2021. The new rules saw over 6,000 flight bookings cancelled in a week, with the remainder of summer seeing fewer bookings than was initially anticipated.

As the rest of Europe opens up, Malta’s tourism-based businesses are looking to the authorities to provide some breathing room.