Restrictions and no medical travel to St Lucia yet

St Lucia opens to US visitors for certified hotels and wellness resorts but with many restrictions, and not for medical tourism.

Saint Lucia has released a marketing campaign to re-boot tourism to the Caribbean island. The 90-second video – ‘She is Saint Lucia…Let Her Inspire You’ – focuses on its natural beauty. It will be promoted through social media, digital marketing and dedicated e-blasts.

Saint Lucia has added new protocols for arriving visitors, requiring travellers to take a COVID-19 swab test within seven days of travel. All visitors must also complete a Pre-Arrival registration form before arrival, with details including proof of negative PCR testing and indicate which COVID-19 Certified hotel they will be staying in.

Visitors travelling only from destinations that have zero or a low instance of COVID-19 cases will be exempt from the seven-day pre-testing requirement. These destinations currently include Antigua, Barbuda, Aruba, Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Monsterrat, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Martin, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos.

Once at the airport, all arriving passengers will be screened, including having temperature checks. Any symptomatic passengers will be isolated and tested. Passengers arriving with proof of a negative PCR test may be exempt from on-island testing and advance through immigration, baggage claim, customs and arrivals for transportation to their COVID-19 Certified hotel. Visitors will be required to follow the local regulations in Saint Lucia, including the wearing of masks during on-island transportation and when in public places.

During Phase One, visitors can stay only at hotels that are COVID-19 Certified. Hotels that have received the certification currently include Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa, Sandals Grande St. Lucian, Stonefield Resort Villas and Sugar Beach – A Viceroy Resort, with several others on track to receive the certification.

Among the requirements, hotels and resorts must maintain a fully equipped nurse’s station.

Phase Two of the island’s new responsible approach to tourism will commence on August 1, 2020, and Phase Three on October 1 with details yet to be revealed.