Grenada lifting UK travel ban; plans to gradually reopen tourism sector

Grenada's Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, on Friday, announced steps to reopen the island’s tourism sector over the coming months.

Speaking during an interview, Mitchell said commercial fights from the United Kingdom and hotel properties, including the Sandals Resort, will be reopened in two months.

“The UK airlines have now reported that they will be resuming flights from April, which coincide with the movement by some of the hotels to reopen.”

Sandals, Grenada’s largest all-inclusive resort will also be reopening in early April.

In December 2020, the hotel announced a suspension of operations after the government disclosed that a cluster of COVID-19 cases had been identified among staff and guests.

“All efforts are being made to put all systems in place to protect the country as far as the virus is concerned and I must say that we are getting cooperation from the tourism sector at all levels,” he said. 

On December 21, 2020, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said the government had taken the decision to suspend all air traffic between Grenada and the UK, starting from the day before, until further notice.

The decision, which was in line with that taken by several other countries, was aimed at preventing, as best as possible, the introduction into Grenada of the COVID-19 variant discovered in the UK.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us @onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.