24th February 2022
It’s the last major European ski nation to require visitors from the UK to take pre-travel Covid-19 tests. The requirement will go on 1st March as the country falls into line with a new recommendation for all EU countries. NEW
Italy currently insists fully vaccinated visitors have proof of a negative test for entry.
The current rules are for a PCR test taken within 48 hours of travel or an antigen test within 24 hours.
Visitors also have to fill in the EU locator form.
The requirement for a test will be dropped from next Tuesday, 1st March, bringing Italy into line with other ski countries, such as France and Austria, which have recently scrapped pre-arrival testing.
The Italian authorities say from Tuesday, visitors will need either a vaccination certificate, a recovery certificate or a negative test result to enter the country.
The move follows a new protocol approved by the European Council on 22nd February intended to harmonise the rules across the whole EU.
Although it is a recommendation rather than binding on individual states, it’s thought likely all EU countries will adopt similar rules.
Other changes in the new EU protocol should make it easier for families to travel – good news with the Easter holidays coming up in April.
Unvaccinated children aged 6 to 17 will be able to enter the EU with proof of a negative PCR text.
And unvaccinated adults with proof of a recent infection within the past 180 days will also be allowed to enter, though they may need to take a test before arriving.
Courmayeur, Italy – photo © PlanetSKI
The news has been welcomed by the UK travel body, ABTA.
“Like the UK, Spain, France, Greece and Portugal no longer require people who are fully vaccinated to take a pre-departure test and we were pleased to see this become an official recommendation by the EU,” Mark Tanzer, the CEO at ABTA said in a statement released on Thursday.
“It’s important to remember that individual Member States can continue to implement their own rules, but these recent moves demonstrate well the more positive attitude from policymakers to travel at this time.”
Mr Tanzer said governments were increasingly understanding the challenges faced by the travel sector.
“Obviously, there is still more to be done, not least in addressing barriers that remain for unvaccinated travellers, and the role of the Passenger Locator Form.
“With the Government’s wider changes to COVID measures, including confirmation that the legal requirement to isolate for those testing positive after travel will be removed in line with those domestic changes, it is no longer clear why this measure is being retained.”
Skiing on the Italy-France border – Image © PlanetSKI
We do our very best at PlanetSKI to ensure the information provided here is as complete and up-to-date as possible. However, please be aware that we assume no liability in this respect. Information provided by PlanetSKI should be checked with the official information provided by the authorities. The situation regarding travel warnings and local rules changes quickly.
Image © PlanetSKI
This article was originally published by Planetski.eu. Read the original article here.
