Ahead of the exciting summer season, the Government of Barbados has announced a key change to its travel protocols. Effective Wednesday, May 25, 2022, fully-vaccinated travellers to Barbados will no longer have to take a COVID-19 test to enter the country.
In a press conference on Saturday, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley advised that the change comes as over 70 percent of the eligible population in Barbados is fully vaccinated. She added that removing the entry test will have positive implications for the country’s tourism experience, including speedier processing times at the Grantley Adams International Airport.
Offering a brief update about the position of the country’s tourism industry, she said that “We had a ninety percent decline in the number of visitors… in the last two years. [Now] we are significantly on our way back up.”
With the removal of the entry test, Barbados remains competitive in the global tourism landscape, and tourism officials are confident that it will be well received by travellers in its source markets at a critical time as they are making their summer and winter holiday plans.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator the Hon. Lisa Cummins, spoke on the significance of the update to the travel protocols, commenting that “What this signals to our travellers is that it is safe for them to come to Barbados, and we are in a position where we can comfortably accommodate many of the same measures they are experiencing at home, such as the protocols for mask wearing and testing for certain activities.”
Masks optional outdoors
The change in protocols also states that masks will now only be mandatory indoors and on public transportation. Outdoors, masks are optional.
Unvaccinated travellers
Prime Minister Mottley noted that the changes announced pertain to vaccinated travellers only. Currently, unvaccinated travellers will still be required to present a negative COVID-19 test to enter Barbados.
