Denmark called for removal of advice on travel abroad, following the example of Norway & Sweden
The Association of Danish Travel Agents and Tour Operators (DRF) has called on the Danish government to abolish travel restrictions imposed on travelers from third countries as soon as possible and to abolish travel advice to other countries to facilitate the travel process.
The association also called on the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to follow the example of other Nordic countries, such as Norway and Sweden, which recently decided to abolish the Council against travel to countries outside the European Union, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.
Norway recently announced that it will abolish its travel advice, so that citizens can travel to other countries also for unnecessary reasons such as tourism, from 1 October, as the council will no longer be extended after the expiry date.
Through the letter to the Danish authorities, Lars Thykier, CEO, Danish Travel Agency Association, together with Henrik Specht, director, tour operators in Denmark, emphasized that even though most Danish citizens are fully immunized or have previously been infected with the virus, which means it can travel quite freely to almost all other countries, the Foreign Ministry’s guidelines do not reflect such a reality.
“Instead, the Foreign Ministry’s travel guides create confusion and insecurity among both travelers and travel agents by continuing to maintain that the world outside the EU is ‘orange’, even though vaccinated and previously infected people can already travel freely to the countries concerned,” the statement published by the DFR reads.
According to the letter, travel guides play an important role in helping the country deal with the current COVID-19 situation. DTA also claims that the guides are not clearly defined when it comes to the travel process.
“But it is simply not clear enough from the travel guides that the ministry advises against unnecessary travel to third countries, which cf. above is colored “orange” in the travel instructions do not apply to vaccinated and previously infected! This despite the fact that 85 percent of Danes over the age of 12 are now fully vaccinated “, DFR has emphasized.
Travel agencies and tour operators’ associations in Denmark have also called on the country’s government to “reverse” the travel instructions as soon as possible to facilitate the travel process for the fully vaccinated as well as for those who have previously recovered from the disease.
“In short, the change will mean that the orange color disappears and is replaced by a green (coronal low-risk area) for most of the countries of the world,” the statement reads.
Despite the call, however, the Danish authorities continue to maintain strict rules on entry, especially for travelers from countries that have recently reported an increased number of COVID-19 infections.
Earlier, authorities in Denmark announced that they introduced stricter rules for travelers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova when they were removed from the list of safe zones after reporting an increase in COVID-19 infections.
Earlier this month, the Danish government also removed Uruguay and Romania from the list of countries considered safe based on their epidemiological situation.
The Nordic country has registered a total of 353 people in the last 24 hours, according to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO). The same source reveals that since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 357,037 people in Denmark have tested positive for the Corona virus while 2,642 people have died.
>>Travel to Denmark in the middle of covid-19: rules and restrictions explained