The Covid-19 travel ban imposed by Mauritius on SA, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia has been lifted.
Director of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, Arvind Bundhun stated that Covid-19 has placed significant pressure on all nations to do the right thing and thanked South Africans and the SA travel industry for their patience
“We are very pleased that South Africans can once again travel to Mauritius,” he said.
The ban has had dire consequences for the travel and tourism industries of both Mauritius and SA.
The island nation had initially extended its ban on travel from Southern African countries until January 31, despite the presence of the Covid-19 Omicron variant on the Indian Ocean island but the Association of Southern African Travel Agents (ASATA) has been lobbying the Mauritian government to lift the ban.
MTPA in a statement said that the country’s health authorities have continued to implement a wide-ranging Covid-19 response and were prioritising the rollout of booster doses for people who are already double vaccinated. The vaccination of 15 to 18-year-olds is also under way.