Most nations can visit Ireland now with a 14-day quarantine, but only those ‘green’ nations can visit without one. The list of green nations is reviewed every two weeks and the nations included have a lower virus indigence rate per 100,000 population than Ireland’s current rate of 4.9.
The border with Northern Ireland and the wider UK was the only one that never closed. Air and sea travellers from the UK now have to enter a 14-day quarantine.
As at August 11, the green countries were:
- Estonia
- Finland
- Greece
- Greenland
- Hungary
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Norway
- Slovakia
Due to the COVID-19 situation, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Monaco, Malta and San Marino were recently removed from the green list.
Downloading the COVID tracker app is optional, but suggested by the government to help stop any possible outbreaks.
Ireland is in Phase 3 of their reopening plans. The following are now open:
- Hotels and other accommodation
- Restaurants, cafes and bars
- Gyms, yoga, and fitness centres
- Beauty salons and aesthetic clinics
- Massage parlours, reflexology, acupuncture and other homeopathy clinics
Tourism bosses are now looking at how best to bring back overseas visitors. Tourism Ireland has tendered for a Covid-19 research programme, looking for data and indications as to when to begin marketing Ireland as a tourist destination and how best to attract visitors.
The recovery needs to be carefully monitored and will depend on a large number of factors, not least how quickly access, both air and sea, returns to the island of Ireland, the industry and product available for tourists to enjoy.
The winning research partner would look at potential source markets and then analyse when promotion of the island of Ireland should begin and where that marketing should be targeted, among other considerations. Tourism Ireland will then explore in-depth which segments and demographics are most likely to travel, which products and experiences will most appeal to them and what messaging will most strongly convince them to consider going to Ireland.
Tourism Ireland has never promoted health tourism or medical tourism. Most inbound and outbound medical tourism is between Ireland and Northern Ireland, with many going to the mainland UK. Those going to Europe, often under the EU cross-border directive, have tended to go to Hungary, Lithuania, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Poland and Scandinavia. Only Hungary, Lithuania and Italy are on the latest list, so medical tourists going elsewhere would have to quarantine on their return.
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