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After a year of closure and strict rules, many people dream and yearn to be able to travel again.
If one chooses to leave the country now, what is the law? Where can you travel to? When can you travel like before? What happens when you return?
The questions are many and here you can get some answers.
Are there many who travel now?
It is not illegal to take so-called “unnecessary travel” abroad, even though Health and Care Services Minister Bent Høie has said a ban is being considered.
Despite strict travel advice, Avinor estimates that more than 20,000 will travel outside the country this Easter alone.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness issued a clear call:
– Don’t travel abroad, says Secretary of State Lars Jacob Hiim.
– Certainly, this is not the time to travel abroad, we must keep as calm as possible to limit the infection.
SAS and Norwegian did not want to specify the number of reservations, but airlines have noticed an increase before Easter compared to the “new standard.”
TRAVEL ADVICE: Ann-Renée Degnes in Ving says they relate to the travel advice of the authorities.
Photo: Ving
Travel operator Ving is also seeing increased demand as it moves into brighter times.
– The questions of restless Norwegians are many, he says. Ann-Renée Degnes, Ving Customer Center Service Director.
Deputy Health Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad says the clear advice is not to leave the country now.
– If you are still traveling, first of all you must accept that it will be little more than a week in a quarantined hotel. Other than that, of course, you must follow the Infection Control Law when traveling, and be well aware that there is now high infection pressure in many countries outside of Norway, Nakstad tells NRK.
Upon returning to Norway, travelers will experience strict checks and tests.
He will now have to wait for the corona test result before he can travel further, the government says.
CLEAR SPEECH: Deputy Health Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad says the travel advice is very clear: Avoid all travel that is not strictly necessary.
Photo: Heiko Junge / Heiko Junge
Do you have to be vaccinated to travel?
A common question Ving now gets from people considering vacation travel across national borders is whether he should have received a coronary vaccine before he can travel.
– There are many questions about vaccines and whether they can book a trip even if they have not received a vaccine, says Degnes.
Nakstad says you don’t need to be vaccinated to travel now.
– Until now no country has required vaccination, it is because it is still only the oldest part of the population that has been vaccinated in most European countries.
VACCINE PASSPORT: Israel is the country that may have advanced the most in the use of vaccine passports. A QR code on your mobile phone shows your vaccination status.
Photo: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters
What is the status of the vaccine passport?
Another thing that many vacation-hungry Norwegians wonder is whether it is necessary to have a passport with vaccinations to travel.
The European Commission presented its proposal for a digital passport for vaccines on March 17 and allows Norway to join.
– Work is underway on this, and the EU has said it wants to hit a target with a vaccine passport scheme by July. What it means technologically and what the rules will be for having a vaccine passport, we don’t know yet, says Nakstad.
In this country, the plan is still being considered and many Norwegians are positive about vaccine passports.
– In Norway, we work with technical solutions and prepare the introduction of a vaccine passport. But it happens, of course, in cooperation with Europe, where most of the point is being able to harmonize quarantine rules and entry to other countries responsibly.
KORONASTRAND: Two women on the beach outside Malaga in Spain in November last year.
Photo: Jorge Guerrero / AFP
What does travel insurance cover?
Andreas Bibow Handeland, a communications consultant for insurance company IF, also says they get a lot of questions from Norwegian travel lovers wondering what insurance covers.
This means that reserved trips to the so-called red areas are not covered. Therefore, IF advises its clients to wait until the travel notice changes before booking a trip abroad.
– If you book and pay for a trip when it is red on the travel card, and it is still red on departure, you will not receive valid travel insurance or covered cancellation costs. But we have good experiences with big charter companies reimbursing money for trips they can’t take customers on, Handeland says.
But: If the company is small and, for example, it goes bankrupt or does not return what it promised, travel insurance does not help.
– We advise people to wait until green or yellow if they want to be safe.
READY FOR TOURISTS ?: There has been a lot of space at Paleochora Beach in Crete over the past year. The image of 2017.
Photo: Halvard Alvik / NTB
Who is booking trips now?
Ving has charter flights from Sweden to Gran Canaria and Tenerife this Easter. And the occasional Norwegian will likely travel south through Sweden, Degnes says.
– We see that many older people have booked trips. They may have been vaccinated or know when to get vaccinated and book a trip in the fall or winter. It’s the vaccine it contains, says Degnes.
She believes that many have saved money by staying in Norway over the past year and can now spend more to travel more or more times.
– Some also book more trips. I have a lot of faith that this will be good. Many people dream of escaping to experience something different now outside of Norway.
Where do I stay updated on travel tips?
Both the government, the Norwegian Health Directorate, the Norwegian National Institute of Public Health and Health have up-to-date information on travel tips on their websites.
If you are wondering what tips and rules other countries have, then you should look up that information online.
Nakstad says that it is very important that you follow the travel advice and now avoid all travel that is not strictly necessary.
– And you also have to bear in mind that the infection situation and the pressure on health services in many countries is so great that it is not safe for you to receive the medical care that you would otherwise expect if you became seriously ill while traveling.
When can we start traveling as “normal” again?
Nakstad is still optimistic that it won’t be long before things become somewhat more ordinary.
– We hope that vaccination coverage across Europe will be so high among adults that we can start traveling during the summer without necessarily ending up in quarantine both at the destination and when you return home.
And he himself has the dream destination ready, when possible.
– I hope to travel south at a time when it is possible. For swimming in the Mediterranean, I will at least do so as soon as the opportunities present themselves in a safe way, says Nakstad.
