It's not often destinations make requests of tourists. Normally travellers make demands of the places they are out to see, holding them to account (often to the point you wonder whether they are talking about a stretch of sand or an incompetent ex lover), on Tripadvisor.
2020 has changed all that. It's now par for the course for tourism dependant destinations to make health and safety requests of those who come to visit. From requesting a COVID negative test before exiting the airport to enforcing a mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine on arrival, the strategies are varied.
The key aim: to limit the spread of COVID 19.
One Brazilian beach destination has just made a – on first glance bizarre – demand of any tourist that visits. To see Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian Island which sits 334km off the country's northeastern coast) with "the world's best beach" you must have had COVID.
Dig a little deeper and you'll find the request makes sense: you must have had COVID and recovered.
"Visitors will need to prove they have recovered from the virus, and will need to submit one of two types of tests – PCR virus tests or IgG antibody tests – at least 20 days before arriving at the island," Traveller reports.
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Famous for abundant sea life, pristine beaches and dramatic mountainsides rising above the coast, Fernando de Noronha is a tourist mecca and UNESCO world heritage site.
"The move by the tourism dependent archipelago, which has about 3,100 permanent residents according to the most recent census estimate, speaks to the unique ways that state, local and national governments are trying to return to a semblance of normal as new COVID-19 cases and deaths stabilize in many parts of the world," Reuters reports.
Flights already appear to be filling up with island employees.
Imagine vc chegando em Fernando de Noronha p/tirar férias e sendo recebido dessa maneira, subjugado por uma autoridade investida de um poderzinho arrogante e tirano. Gostou? Que tal? pic.twitter.com/jAS3Xub0e9
— Bia Kicis (@Biakicis) August 27, 2020
The island's decision has also sparked debate over the level of immunity that coronavirus patients develop after surviving a first infection with it. As Reuters reports, though there have been cases of re-infection reported, including in Brazil, such instances are "relatively rare."
Guilherme Rocha, Fernando de Noronha's administrator, said of the policy: "Only tourists who have already had COVID and have recovered and are immune to the disease will be authorised (since) they can neither transmit it, nor be infected again."
André Longo, the health secretary of the state of Pernambuco, said in a statement: “There hasn’t been community transmission on the island for a long time. We have to keep it that way.”
“Obviously, this step is going to be done with an eye on safety and reactivating economic activity on the archipelago.”
At the time of writing Fernando de Noronha has reported 93 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and no deaths. It banned tourism in March and is has now re-opened to the aforementioned type of tourist, starting September the 1st.
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Mainland Brazil has not been so fortunate: the country has experienced at least 120,000 known deaths and 3.8 million confirmed cases. This number has begun to stabliise in recent weeks, but remains very high.
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The post Brazilian Island’s ‘Tourist Ultimatum’ Offers Creative Glimpse Into The Future Of Travel appeared first on DMARGE.
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