Travel health visa requirement still in place for visitors
Cooper hints manual immigration landing card to be axed “in due course”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Tourism Minister Chester Cooper advised in Parliament yesterday that beginning December 13, Bahamians and residents will no longer require health visas to return home.
The travel visa, however, will remain in place for visitors “for the foreseeable future”.
During a contribution in Parliament, Cooper explained that while testing requirements will remain in place for all travelers, those protocols are currently under review by the Ministry of Health.
“We believe that this provides a level of protection for the health and safety of all in The Bahamas by vetting the authenticity of documents by the Bahamas Health Travel Visa Program, well in advance of travel,” he said.
“The visa has also allowed us to gather key data for analysis and marketing, and the means to better communicate events that may impact travel.
“We foreshadow further that the manual immigration landing card will be eliminated in due course.
“We are satisfied that once this process is digitized, it will create a further convenience to our tourists and foreign business travelers.”
Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis promised earlier this year that a Progressive Liberal Party-led government would end travel health visa requirements for Bahamians and visitors upon taking office.
The party had continually asserted that the travel visa was an unnecessary tax imposed by the Free National Movement government.
Upon coming to office, the Davis administration removed the travel health visas requirement for domestic travel in The Bahamas, and as of October 1, Bahamians and residents of The Bahamas, whether vaccinated against COVID-19 or not, no longer had to pay travel health visa fees to travel internationally.
The fees were left in place for visitors.
The health visa has been adjusted several times since its rollout, based on local and global changes with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cooper advised yesterday that the online visa platform experienced interruptions and delays for a short period on December 5 and 6.
The interruptions were reportedly due to power outages and other technical glitches at Cable Bahamas, which serves as the data host.
“This was most unacceptable and regrettable,” Cooper said.
“We, therefore, apologize to the traveling public for this inconvenience. I have asked that our service providers put in place the appropriate redundancy so that this does not recur.”
The tourism minister noted that the government has completed its promised review of all the contracts associated with the visa platform and renegotiations are underway with all partners.
The travel health visa was placed under the spotlight earlier this year amid assertions that the Minnis administration awarded the contract for the program based on political affiliation — an accusation the former administration and online payment retailer Kanoo have rejected.
Cooper further pointed to a recent change to the United States’ travel regime requiring international travelers to present proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than one day before boarding a flight to the US.
“The Bahamas is well-positioned to adapt to this new requirement as many hotel properties offer on-site testing, making the process for visitors as efficient as possible, with ample off-property testing sites also available throughout The Bahamas,” he added.
“We remain optimistic for a robust winter travel season with ample direct airlift available from key markets, ample testing facilities, as well as accommodations and endless options of things to see, do and experience, to suit every type of vacation seeker, making The Bahamas a seamless travel opportunity.”
Data from the health visa indicates an average of 62 percent of all visitors to The Bahamas are fully vaccinated, with six percent of those unvaccinated being children under the age of 12 who do not yet qualify for the vaccine, he said.
Loading ...
