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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
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Travelers will be visiting Belize via our Safe Corridors, which include safety steps from the point of arrival to the day of departure. Check out the infographic below to learn more!

These updated protocols for October are slightly different than those in August, making travel to Belize more convenient.

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Kindly take note of Belize's Travel Reopening Plan, which includes the five phases. Phase 3, the opening of the airport, has been announced for October 1st. The Belize Health App is now available for download from the Apple App Store and Android Store

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The January time frame for Phase 4 is tentative - it could be sooner or later and this does NOT mean Jan 1st.

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These revised entry requirements for Belizean citizens, residents and long-stay non-nationals effectively waives a mandatory one-day quarantine, plus reduces a 14-day self-quarantine at home (once negative) to a 10-day self-quarantine.

Foreign Tourists
Tourists must download the Health App (https://conta.cc/367KrQJ) and complete the required information to receive a unique ID to travel within the Tourism Safety Corridors, including approved Gold Standard Hotels, transportation, and tour operators. Guests must book their stay at a Gold Standard Hotel and take a PCR test within 72 hours before flying to Belize. Once they have been cleared at the PGIA, approved Gold Standard land/air transportation will provide transfer to their respective destinations.

Belizeans and Residents
Before traveling, Belizeans/Residents must register through the controlled repatriation process by visiting www.covid19.bz. They will then download the Health App and complete the required information. Upon entry, a COVID-19 test ($50US) at the expense of the traveller will be required. If the results are negative, the person is required to quarantine at home for ten days. Following this time, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will need to give clearance for free movement.

Persons with business concerns in Belize (non-work permits)
Registration for traveling must be made at www.covid19.bz and proof must be provided of investment in Belize. An itinerary must be provided for the duration of the visit. The Health App needs to be downloaded and persons must stay at an approved Gold Standard Hotel or produce proof of owned property. They must bring with them a PCR test done 72 hours prior to the trip. A second screening may be conducted when arriving in Belize, depending on health screening results. Businesspersons must adhere to approved itineraries and are expected to move around in a particular vehicle and with a trained driver.

Foreign Second Home Owners/Qualified Retired Persons
After registering on the COVID-19 page, they must provide home ownership/lease in Belize or their Qualified Retired Persons ID card. After downloading the Health App, they must take the $50US COVID-19 test at the airport in Belize. If results are negative, just as Belizeans, they will be required to quarantine at their home for ten days, after which the Ministry of Health (MOH) will advise if they can move around freely.

In August, the protocols required most of the travellers, except for the foreign tourists, to spend their first night of arrival (at their own expense) at an approved hotel in Belize City until their PRC test results were issued. If they tested negative they could continue to their final destination. This requirement was not included in this latest updated set of regulations. The number of days for self-quarantining at home, for those testing negative, has been reduced from 13 to ten.

BTB reminds travellers in any of the categories that if they do not come with a PCR test, they will have the option to get one at the PGIA at their own expense. In the case that a COVID-19 test comes out positive, the persons will be required isolate for 14 days at an approved quarantine hotel at his/her own expense.

Last edited by Marty; 10/06/20 04:54 AM. Reason: Updated Traveller Classification & Entry Requirements matrix
Joined: Oct 1999
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Marty Offline OP
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B.H.A. and its Membership Ready for the P.G.I.A. Reopening

In less than two weeks, on October first, the Philip Goldson International Airport is set to reopen to international visitors. There are concerns about the readiness of resorts and hotels to accommodate tourists, while keeping their staff and guests safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. But Belize Hotel Association President Ted Tejada says that following a poll, the association and its membership stand ready for the reopening of the airport.

Ted Tejada, President, Belize Hotel Association


"There is no final vaccine, it is still being tried, but there is no final vaccine. We see that we are going to be standing here September next year and this virus is still going to be around. So we need to learn to live with it. And I think after seven months of not having a guest in your hotel, we've seen that it's been over sixty-two thousand people asking the government for some kind of relief, especially the tourism sector and that number continues to grow every single day. The companies can no longer sustain helping their employees without getting the influx of tourism so most of them have decided that it is time to open. Why? Because they have these beautiful hotels that are now starting to rot because the longer you keep your rooms closed, the moisture, the bugs that get in damage your furniture. So they've realised that we are going to be here next year looking at the same situation and we as individuals have to develop protocols to protect the employees, the guests, but we must open. And so we stand with the prime minister that the airport must open October first."

Tourists Won't be Able to Enter Belize without Reservation at a Gold Standard Hotel

Tejada says that tourists won't be able to enter the country without proof of reservation at a gold standard hotel.

Ted Tejada, President, Belize Hotel Association


"As a matter of fact, seventy-two hours prior to arriving in the country of Belize, you must download the app and the app will only have the active certified hotels on them so there is no way that a guest will be able to get into the country of Belize without demonstrating that they are going to be staying at a gold standard hotel."

Will Hotels Have to be Gold Standard Certified to Operate?

Will hotels mandatorily have to acquire gold standard certification or they won't be able to open? That's the information surfacing tonight. Reports are that a legal document has been drafted to tie the hands of hoteliers and resort owners to become certified. Earlier this year, the Belize Tourism Board through consultation with the Ministry of Health and private sector tourism agencies developed a gold standard certification. Hotels and resorts have been making considerable investments to satisfy a nine-point list of best practices to ensure that they are operating under special COVID-19 procedures for the safety of guests and staff. To date, only fifty-nine properties have achieved gold standard accreditation and over a hundred applications are before the B.T.B. being processed. BHA President, Ted Tejada says that hotels, regardless if they are catering only to domestic tourism, will have to acquire gold standard certification to operate.

Ted Tejada, President, Belize Hotel Association


"To be honest, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I know, it is going to become law, in order for you to sell a room to anybody, doesn't matter if it is going to be a Belizean or international [tourist], we gotta listen to ourselves and say there is over fifteen hundred Belizeans with this disease already so anybody coming in and visiting your hotel could be infected with the virus. So this is not an option if you want to sell a room, become a gold standard; you must become a gold standard. And as I understand, there is going to be a hefty penalty for any individual selling a room without a gold standard certification. So I believe that within the next month, the tourism board is going to be flooded with applications because arriving in the country of Belize, the only way you will be able to past immigration is that you must be able to show the immigration officer that you have a reservation with a gold standard hotel."

What Happens to Smaller Properties?

But what about the smaller properties, including bed and breakfasts that cannot afford the investment? Tejada says that the association is there to assist and has been advising its members on how to make the necessary changes economically.

Ted Tejada, President, Belize Hotel Association


"When we look at the situation, what is happening and why this virus has propagated throughout the country of Belize, because we keep looking at hotels; that hotels have to do the investment. We have to look at the bus stations have to do the investment; we have to look at the little shops, the mom and pop's, the tacos stations. Every business must invest in the protocols, in the sanitization and you don't have to buy the Mercedes Benz. There are chemicals and there are dispensers that you can implement in your place that is not the high end versus of what every hotel has. Our hotel association is helping them one step at a time. How do you eat the elephant? Piece by piece; you take it one step at a time. There are nine steps that you need to accomplish to get your certification and that is where we the hotel association comes in to help them."

Channel 5

Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
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No waiting in the VIP lounge

Effective October 1st, tourists will be swabbed for their COVID19 test at the Airport but will continue to be processed through Immigration and Customs, then exit the Airport within the Safe Corridor and receive their test results at their Gold Standard hotel.

This will minimize the processing time at the Airport and allow for a smoother and faster flow.

All employees working within the safe corridor are reminded to adhere to all Gold Standard safety protocols and operate as if everyone is positive.

Official communication on this will be released Tuesday.

Note: someone can still arrive with a PCR test

Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
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New PGIA Entry Requirements for Belizeans and Permanent Residents

The lifting of the registration requirement for Belizean nationals and permanent residents is another effort by the Government of Belize to make the return to Belize easier.

All Belizeans and permanent residents of Belize planning their arrival via the Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport (PGIA) must:

- Complete the Belize Travel Health App and save the QR Code and TRIP number issued to show the airline at check-in and upon entry to Belize. The results can be printed or saved on a mobile device.

http://reporting.covid19.bz:8080/apex/f?p=141:2

- Belizean nationals and permanent residents do not need register to enter Belize - only download and complete questions on the Belize Health Travel App.

Belizeans, permanent residents, and all others who test negative for COVID-19 and head into the community are expected to self-quarantine at home for 10 days and are strongly encouraged to wear masks, maintain social distancing of six feet where possible, regularly wash hands, refrain from touching the eyes, noses or mouths, and carefully disinfect and regularly wipe down all shared surfaces for their safety and the safety of those around them.

Any person testing positive for COVID-19 upon arrival at the PGIA will be required to transfer to the authorized quarantine hotel (Ramada Belize City Princess Hotel) at their own expense for a period of 14 days or until there are two negative PCR test results. For those unable to pay in such cases, the alternative is the Quarantine Authority designated government-sponsored site such as D'Silva Camp in the Mountain Pine Ridge.

It should be noted that in this third reopening phase, land and sea ports of entry remain closed to travelers at this time except for cargo. Therefore, persons needing to enter or depart Belize via Benque Viejo del Carmen or Corozal must continue to obtain clearance via [email protected] to coordinate their safe transit.

Steps to go to Belize as a Belizean on a Belizean passport

1. Get a covid test 72 hrs before travel.

2. Got to https://www.covid19.bz/travel-health-app/ or App Store & Download app - input data 72 hrs before travel; get a scan scan code upon completion.

3. Check in - show BOTH negative covid test and scan code to airline. Same process repeated at check in gate before boarding. You have to have Belize's approval to travel via the app or you CANNOT GO!

4. Land and show same documents & get a temp ck at station 1

5. Go through green line

6. Hand all docs and phone to station 2

7. Get red stamp

8. Head to immigration

9. Buy duty free

10. Get bags

11. Clear customs

12. Take an airport cab or walk to end of the airport for private pickup (nobody allowed in are where we once greeted arrivals) except cabs.

13. Self isolate for 10 days

SEAMLESS PROCESS! (Really nice upgrade to the inside of the airport) very professional looking.

Kudos to all who made this happen.

(This app functions like my Mobile Passport for the US.)


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