The UK is by far the most important source market for Maltese tourism. Advance bookings are faltering, however, according to surveys that many Brits want to postpone their Malta summer vacation to 2022. The background to this is that the entry formalities have not yet been clarified, as the United Kingdom is no longer a member of the European Union.

Entry into the Republic of Malta should be easy for EU citizens from June 1, 2021: Those who are fully vaccinated can enter the islands without any conditions. Alternatively, a negative corona test can be presented. Both expressly only apply to EU citizens and relatives or residents of those states with which agreements have been concluded. The United Kingdom does not yet have such a system.

The Maltese Ministry of Tourism is now putting pressure on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because the low number of bookings from the UK is now causing headaches. A kind of "travel bubble" is to be created between the two countries. To this end, an app is to be set up that can be used by both sides to travel. These should be used to prove the vaccination status or test status.

Checks should be carried out using QR codes

Clayton Bartolo, Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Malta, confirmed that bilateral negotiations are being held between the two countries. He currently assumes that a solution will be available before June 2021. Malta will provide the technology. The anti-corona app, which is rarely used on the islands, will be used and it will be further developed for UK tourists. The vaccination and test status should be displayed using a QR code. As part of the mandatory passport control, which must be carried out on arrival from the UK, the barcodes should be scanned. However, people without smartphones should be able to present their documents (proof of vaccination or negative test results) in paper form.

For Schengen travelers, they are currently considering using something similar to self-boarding gates in the ports and at Luqa Airport. The arriving passengers would then have to put their EU Green Pass barcode on the scanner and if everything fits, the barriers will open. However, these considerations are still at a very early stage and it is extremely unlikely that the technology will be used in the summer of 2021. Most likely, it will be similar to last year, although this year no more forms will be collected, but QR codes will be scanned. People without a smartphone should still be able to show their entry authorization in paper form to the staff.