Mauritius has announced Phase 1 of reopening of its borders, which runs from 15 July until 30 September 2021, allowing vaccinated guests to stay in one of 14 chosen ‘resort bubbles’.

Holidaymakers will be able to enjoy facilities within their chosen hotel including the swimming pool and beach. If guests stay for 14 days and have negative PCR tests during their stay in the resort, they will then be able to leave the hotel and travel around the island freely for the rest of their stay, exploring the island’s many attractions. However, for shorter stays, they may leave the resort earlier and travel back home.

The decision to reopen Mauritius’ borders, announced in June, came following the successful acceleration of the country’s vaccination programme. International tourism represents a large amount of the island nation’s GDP and the Mauritian government took the decision in January to    include tourism workers and hotel staff as frontline workers to ensure visitors will be welcomed   into a safe and secure environment in Mauritius.

Travellers to Mauritius must undergo a PCR test between five and seven days before departure and a negative result is required to enter the island. Vaccinated travellers must also have a PCR test on arrival at the airport in Mauritius and on day 7 and 14 of their resort holiday, as applicable.

Air Mauritius and other global airlines will add additional flight capacity from 15 July 2021 which will increase in the lead up to the full reopening of 1 October 2021.

Steven Obeegadoo, deputy PM of Mauritius and minister of tourism, said: “Mauritius is delighted to be welcoming international visitors into our safe and secure environment on the island. We are in a unique position to be able to allow international visitors, both vaccinated and non-vaccinated, to our resort bubbles and quarantine hotels before allowing guests to experience the island’s attractions.

The safety and security of Mauritian citizens, residents, and those visiting the island is paramount and we are grateful to those who have cooperated throughout the pandemic to make this possible. The acceleration of our vaccination programme has enabled us to partially reopen our borders and the country loos forward to fully opening our borders in October, he added.

Phase 2 of the reopening of the borders, which takes place on 1 October 2021, will allow vaccinated travellers to enter Mauritius without restrictions upon presentation of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before departure.