Turkey to welcome all British tourists with or without Covid vaccine

Turkish Tourism minister Mehmet Ersoy said the country is "looking forward to welcoming British tourists with open arms" this summer.

Turkey expects to welcome visitors this summer without requiring evidence of vaccination, the tourism minister has said.

In addition, British travellers are unlikely to need to take PCR tests before arrival due to the success of the UK’s vaccine programme.

He went on to say: “We will not require vaccination passports from international travellers when entering the country.

“We have world-class border processes in place for ensuring travel will be low-risk throughout Turkey.”

He continued: “To ensure our visitors can enjoy a safe and healthy holiday at all stages of their trip, we will continue to invest in the ‘Safe Tourism Certification Program’ which we launched in 2020.

“We have expanded the scope this year and made it compulsory for hotels and other accommodation facilities with 30 rooms or more. More than 8,000 facilities have been certified so far.”

All hotels certified under the scheme provide testing facilities for holidaymakers so they can obtain test results before departing Turkey for the UK.

Tests cost approximately €30 and are also available to be carried out at the country’s international airports.