Filenews 12 April 2021 - by Theano Thiopoulou
Until today we knew about alternative ways of tourism, such as diving, naturalistic, medical, religious. Now in the age of the crown there are countries that organize a new type of tourism, vaccination tourism, combining holidays.
This comes at a time when most Western countries in the European Union have announced restrictions on the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine, resulting in the vaccination programme lagging behind the original targets. According to the data collected by 'F', an entire business plan has been set up by a closed club in the UK, for those who do not want to wait on the waiting list for their vaccination, naturally have quite large sums of money and want to combine the vaccine with the holidays.
On the website of Knightsbridge Circle, a luxury travel agency - club based in London there is a section "Private Covid 19 vaccination available". In order to have access to their tourist packages, however, one must have been invited by someone and pay a €30,000 annual subscription. If he really wants to travel to Dubai now to get vaccinated by taking a fancy holiday, he has to pay an extra €45,000. Total travel €75,000. The journey takes 21 days just as long as it takes for both doses of the vaccine to take place. It even enables its customers to be vaccinated in Dubai if they want to make the Pfizer/BioTech vaccine. The private club, which also operates as a luxury travel agency, has members all over the world and currently, due to travel restrictions, Britons cannot fly to Dubai. The United Arab Emirates has become a primary vaccination tourism centre for those who naturally have the necessary resources. Dubai and Abu Dhabi have. The United Arab Emirates has the second most successful vaccination programme after Israel, according to the World Health Organization, and is now considering profitable exploitation of their experience by formally establishing a vaccination tourism programme.
Travel to the USA
In the U.S., every state has its own vaccination program. There are movements between states and some benefit from the "windows" that exist in the procedures. However, it is Florida that has emerged as the champion of vaccination tourism. In addition to the Americans, Canadians, Brazilians and Argentines arrive in Florida to obtain the vaccine from the Publix Super Markets chain, which has 730 stores in the State. The exotic Maldives also enters the struggle of vaccination tourism, promoting the tourist movement of the island complex, with the slogan "visit, vaccinate, have fun".
Russia is not left behind.
A share of the vaccination tourism pie is also claimed by Russia. A report in the Izvestia newspaper has already heralded the creation of "vaccination packages" which, in addition to the relatively high cost, also require the 25-day stay in Russia in order to make both doses of the Sputnik-V vaccine.
In the game and India
The pioneer in vaccination tourism is the Indian company Gem Tours & Travels. From November 2020 it offers a €1,700 package, including a four-day trip from Mumbai to New York, with the vaccine and a 10-year visa included in the price. Since mid-January the Government of India has launched a programme aimed at vaccinating 300 million citizens, giving priority to vulnerable groups and health workers. For others who can afford it, there are agencies offering trips to the US, Britain or Russia, with guaranteed vaccination.
What Belgrade promotes
Vaccination tourism also promotes Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Vaccinations of foreign citizens, of all ages, take place only in Belgrade, in the large area of the Belgrade International Exhibition (Beogradski Medjunarodni Sajam). They were initially only given the AstraZeneca vaccine and not the vaccines of the other companies that Serbia has abundantly.
