Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has affected the whole world, various safety measures have been taken in Turkey in order to protect public health and safety. According to the latest official regulations, President Erdoğan announced additional restrictions and closures to stop the spread of COVID-19, including a full-time curfew throughout Turkey, starting at 19:00 on Thursday, April 29, 2021, and ending at 05:00 on Monday, May 17, 2021, encompassing weekdays and weekends.
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Foreign travelers who are in the country for short trips and tourism are exempt from the curfews. Foreign visitors will be able to carry out their activities provided that they have their passports with them. Public transportation will continue to operate at 50% capacity. Major museums and historical sites across 9 cities including İstanbul, Antalya, Muğla and Nevşehir (Cappadocia) will be open to foreign visitors during the lockdown. Please click for the full list.
During the lockdown, accommodation facilities will continue to serve their customers including the dining facilities inside hotels. Other dining facilities such as restaurants and cafes will continue to operate only for delivery and take-away services. Until the end of Ramadan, Thursday, May 13, 2021 dining establishments such as restaurants, patisseries, cafés, and cafeterias will be available for 24/7 delivery services only. After this date, they will be available for delivery services until 01:00 hours only.
In order to enhance position as one of the world’s safest destinations, Turkey is continuing to invest in ‘Safe Tourism Certification Program’ which is one of the first and most successful examples in the world in this field. The ”Safe Tourism” certificate has been made mandatory for the accommodation facilities with 30 and more rooms since 01.01.2021. Up to now, 9.236 facilities were certified. Turkey offers additional insurance facilities that provide various benefits along with health and travel insurance. Information about insurance packages can be found on the https://tga.gov.tr/insurance
Furthermore, Turkey rolled out a tourism employee vaccination registration program for tourism employees in coordination with The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Health and Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA). The Program has been launched within the scope of ‘Safe Tourism Certification Program’ to welcome foreign visitors for the upcoming tourism season and to ensure the health and safety of tourism employees and its residents. Vaccination of the tourism employees will be completed before the beginning of 2021 summer season.
Turkey is taking all actions to guarantee a safe and a healthy tourism destination in 2021 and will be one of the top choices as a safe travel option for foreign travelers.
Source: Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (Press release)