South Africans have a thirst for island holidays and local operators are driving sales to Seychelles and the Maldives due to the easing of travel regulations in those two destinations. However, there are some restrictions and cost implications to bear in mind when it comes to moving between islands in both destinations.
The Seychelles Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine has released a new travel advisory that limits island hopping.
“Visitors may only stay in establishments or liveaboards that have been certified by the Public Health Authority. Upon arrival in Seychelles, visitors must stay in not more than two accommodations/liveaboards for the first seven days. Visitors are not permitted to stay at private residences. Visitors wanting to engage in recreational activities such as sightseeing, tours, excursions are required to use licensed tourism service providers that have been certified by the Public Health Authority,” states the advisory.
A Q&A on the Maldives Immigration website also advises visitors that they must have approval from the Ministry of Tourism for inter-island travels.
“Most of our travellers to the Seychelles only visit two islands with a possible day trip to La Digue. We do not foresee this as a stumbling block,” said ceo of Thompsons Holidays, Joanne Adolphe.
eTravel ITC, Gillian Gerber, told Travel News that, in her view, the restriction on island hopping was unlikely to adversely affect South African travellers, as most clients tended to book a maximum of two resort stays during a trip, due to the prohibitive cost of travelling between islands.
Gm of The Holiday Factory, Flora Fubbs, agreed that South Africans tended to enjoy ‘fly and flop’ island holidays as opposed to the island-hopping trips that are more popular among European travellers. She added that the restrictions on visiting multiple resorts and islands were intended to limit exposure.
Additional costs
Canvassed suppliers said there were additional costs to bear in mind when travelling to the Seychelles.
Gillian said a new ‘disembarkation levy’ (code P1) had recently been introduced in the Seychelles and was defined in the GDS as follows: “To fund future investment required at the airport and the overall infrastructure of the aviation industry to ensure safe secured and sustainable operations of the aviation sector.”
Another cost mentioned by Joanne was that passengers had to pay €50 (R940) to complete the Seychelles Health Travel Authorisation. This is a Seychelles government charge, apparently to cover the cost of information gathering, storage and tracking if necessary.
Flora said Maldives had a similar health authorisation procedure in place but that its government was not charging travellers for this service.
Combining two island groups?
Air Seychelles announced last month that it was introducing a new weekly service, for six weeks only, from December 4, offering flights via the Seychelles to the Maldives.
“The flight will provide travellers with the opportunity to plan their holidays in advance for the upcoming festive season now that both countries have reopened and are welcoming back international visitors,” said Air Seychelles.
“We have seen an increase in requests for quotes via Seychelles to Maldives since the flight combination was introduced but these are only converting if the airfare costs come in cheaper than flights via the UAE,” said Joanne.
Flora reported that there had been interest in combining the two island groups but warned that it was important to note that the trip had to be booked to visit the Seychelles on the outward leg to Maldives, not the return leg, as the Seychelles had not yet fully reopened its borders for leisure travellers from the Maldives.
Testing
While the Seychelles authorities do not require PCR tests for travellers to depart from the island, the island’s travel advisory says that PCR testing facilities are available on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue for visitors who require these to travel to onward destinations.
“Visitors requiring the test should contact the Public Health Authority well in advance on the email address covid19test@health.gov.sc or telephone +248 4388410 to make the necessary arrangements. The PCR test currently costs SCR2 500 (R2 070). Children below the age of 12 years and persons of 65 years and above are exempted from the fee. All PCR tests administered in Seychelles are certified by the Department of Health,” says the advisory.
Joanne said some resorts in the Seychelles, such as Lemuria and Constance Ephelia, were including the cost of the PCR test for guests who stayed for five nights or longer.
According to Flora, various DMCs in the Seychelles were facilitating the transportation of guests to clinics for PCR testing and that the clinics were easy to reach due to the size of the islands.
Operators also told Travel News that many resorts in the Maldives were facilitating in-house PCR testing.