{"id":108053,"date":"2021-04-09T09:50:47","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T07:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?p=108053"},"modified":"2023-10-10T12:44:30","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T10:44:30","slug":"sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice","title":{"rendered":"Asia: Sri Lanka, a model MICE destination in times of pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"vapo-snippet automatic\">\n<p>\"Travel corridors\", \"travel bubbles\": these two expressions have become part of everyday vocabulary in many regions, to designate a country-to-country arrangement that allows foreign tourists to return. This is particularly the case in the Asia-Pacific region, where the<strong>Australia, Hong Kong, <\/strong>the <strong>New Zealand<\/strong> or even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/connectchangi-hotel-bulle-singapour-20210225.html\/\"><strong>Singapore<\/strong><\/a> are already talking about or applying this partial opening of their borders. But the most attractive exception in Asia is called <strong>\"organic bubble<\/strong>. A concept invented by <strong>Sri Lanka<\/strong>whose Covid restrictions are the most flexible in Asia.<\/p>\n<p>What is an \"organic bubble\" according to the authorities...<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vapo-content\" style=\"display:none\"><p>\"Travel corridors\", \"travel bubbles\": these two expressions have become part of everyday vocabulary in many regions, to designate a country-to-country arrangement that allows foreign tourists to return. This is particularly the case in the Asia-Pacific region, where the<strong>Australia, Hong Kong, <\/strong>the <strong>New Zealand<\/strong> or even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/connectchangi-hotel-bulle-singapour-20210225.html\/\"><strong>Singapore<\/strong><\/a> are already talking about or applying this partial opening of their borders. But the most attractive exception in Asia is called <strong>\"organic bubble<\/strong>. A concept invented by <strong>Sri Lanka<\/strong>whose Covid restrictions are the most flexible in Asia.<\/p>\n<p>What is an \"organic bubble\" according to the Sri Lankan authorities? \"\u00a0<em><strong>N<\/strong><strong>e're imposing a quarantine, but it's very similar to a classic holiday <\/strong>for most travellers, as there are very few restrictions on foreign visitors.<\/em> That's why we call it 'Bio Bubble'. The fact is, <strong>an entire hotel establishment becomes a health bubble<\/strong>describes Mrs. <strong>Kimarli Fernando<\/strong>Chairwoman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB).<\/p>\n<p>The country completely closed its borders last May when the pandemic broke out. But with the pandemic now well under control and the importance of tourism to the local economy, the country has realised that it needs to welcome international travellers back to \"post-pandemic\" normality.<\/p>\n<p>The tourism and travel industry generates <strong>12.6% of national GDP<\/strong>11.2 billion in 2019. It also provides employment for three million people. A windfall that is hard to ignore. Before the pandemic, the country welcomed 2.2 million international tourists, including more than 45% from Europe.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #a71f31\">Organic bubbles\" or new-found flexibility for travellers<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In terms of covid, Sri Lanka had 94,000 positive cases as of 7 April 2021, including 588 deaths since the start of the pandemic. \"\u00a0<em>So far, we've got the epidemic well under control<\/em>says Kimarli Fernando. Sri Lanka has therefore decided to <strong>reopening up to international travellers<\/strong> <strong>mid-January<\/strong>. This includes the resumption of flights to Colombo airport. This decision was taken following the development of health protocols to make the destination safe for visitors.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Some 230 hotels in the country have undergone a health and hygiene audit.<\/strong>. They have been certified as \"safe and secure\", receiving the <strong>level 1\" label<\/strong>. These \"level 1\" hotels are the only ones authorised to receive international visitors. \" L<em>he fact that access is not possible for domestic tourists means that all the hotel's services can be offered to travellers without any hindrance.<\/em> They have access to all the services, such as swimming pools, spas, conference rooms, sports halls and restaurants,\" explains Kimarli Fernando.<\/p>\n<p>However, international visitors are still subject to a<strong> quarantine<\/strong>less restrictive than elsewhere in Asia. <strong>It lasts seven days in a level 1 hotel for vaccinated people and 14 days for unvaccinated travellers.<\/strong>. A <strong>local insurance for Covid is compulsory<\/strong> at a reasonable cost of 12 US$. The insurance covers all possible costs related to the pandemic up to a maximum of 50,000 dollars.<\/p>\n<p>During your stay, <strong>tourists must undergo two PCR tests<\/strong> for just under \u20ac70, to be paid before travelling to Sri Lanka. The first test is carried out on arrival at the hotel. The second is carried out five to seven days later, or if symptoms appear. \"\u00a0<em>We also carry out a test earlier if people are staying for less than seven days.<\/em>\" says Kimarli Fernando. <strong>Once the quarantine is complete, visitors are free to travel throughout the country.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #a71f31\">The MICE industry seduced<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It's a fact, <strong>Flexibility and freedom in Sri Lanka are at the heart of the \"organic bubble\" concept<\/strong>. The conditions \"\u00a0<em>are making it possible to offer a stay in Sri Lanka comparable to what it might have been before the pandemic. The only restriction is the ban on contact with local communities during the quarantine period. Except for hotel staff, who have now been vaccinated,<\/em>\u00a0\"says the President of the Tourist Office.<\/p>\n<p>Within this bubble, <strong>travellers can move from one hotel to another as long as they are in a level 1 category<\/strong>. The authorities have even drawn up a list of 20 to 30 \"safe and certified\" attractions to visit. These include excursions to tea plantations, temples and diving. <strong>An attractive protocol for MICE travel and conferences<\/strong> who are starting to return to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n<p>\"\u00a0<em>We have set up a <strong>dedicated service on our website<\/strong> which allows us to help you plan and organise your trip. This also enables us to meet more specific requests, such as the privatisation of venues,<\/em>\u00a0\"adds Kimarli Fernando.<\/p>\n<p>Proof that Sri Lanka is once again attracting MICE travellers, in<strong> Next May and November, the country will host two UNESCO conferences<\/strong>. \"\u00a0<em>And if more people around the world are vaccinated, Sri Lanka plans to simplify its health protocols even further,<\/em>\u00a0\"concludes the chair of the tourism authority.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vapo-widget\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"seriesmeta\">Article 5 of 7 in this dossier <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/destination\/reopening-borders-boosting-tourism-different-strategies-in-asia\" class=\"series-2253\" title=\"Special report - Reopening borders, boosting tourism: the different strategies in Asia\">Special report - Reopening borders, boosting tourism: the different strategies in Asia<\/a><\/div><p>Voyages d'Affaires analyses the reopening of Asia to international tourism. This first article focuses on Sri Lanka, a model in these times of pandemic. The country is welcoming back international visitors by transforming hotel complexes into health bubbles, known as \"bio bubbles\".<\/p>","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":108097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,97],"tags":[1015,1229,2087,2113,2251],"type-darticle":[],"n_magazine":[],"class_list":["post-108053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations-affaires","category-destinations-incentive","tag-asie","tag-mice","tag-covid-19","tag-quarantaine","tag-formalites-voyages","series-reouverture-des-frontieres-relance-du-tourisme-les-differentes-strategies-en-asie","vapo-premium"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Le Sri Lanka ouvre la voie aux s\u00e9jours MICE en temps de Covid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Le Sri Lanka a cr\u00e9\u00e9 une quarantaine tr\u00e8s flexible appel\u00e9e &quot;bulle bio&quot; qui permet aux voyageurs de nombreuses activit\u00e9s, notamment pour le MICE.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Asie : le Sri Lanka, destination mod\u00e8le pour le MICE en temps de pand\u00e9mie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Le Sri Lanka a cr\u00e9\u00e9 une quarantaine tr\u00e8s flexible appel\u00e9e &quot;bulle bio&quot; qui permet aux voyageurs de nombreuses activit\u00e9s, notamment pour le MICE.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Voyages d&#039;affaires\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-09T07:50:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-10T10:44:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/old-parliamentcolombo-sri-lanka.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Luc Citrinot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Luc Citrinot\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice\",\"name\":\"Le Sri Lanka ouvre la voie aux s\u00e9jours MICE en temps de Covid\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/old-parliamentcolombo-sri-lanka.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-09T07:50:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-10T10:44:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c74b2eea412d55da7482e81e95f8edc3\"},\"description\":\"Le Sri Lanka a cr\u00e9\u00e9 une quarantaine tr\u00e8s flexible appel\u00e9e \\\"bulle bio\\\" qui permet aux voyageurs de nombreuses activit\u00e9s, notamment pour le MICE.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/old-parliamentcolombo-sri-lanka.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/old-parliamentcolombo-sri-lanka.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":480,\"caption\":\"L'ancien parlement au c\u0153ur de Colombo, la capitale du Sri Lanka (D.R.)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Asie : le Sri Lanka, destination mod\u00e8le pour le MICE en temps de pand\u00e9mie\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/\",\"name\":\"Voyages d&#039;affaires\",\"description\":\"media fran\u00e7ais du Voyage d&#039;Affaires &amp; du MICE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c74b2eea412d55da7482e81e95f8edc3\",\"name\":\"Luc Citrinot\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/author\/luccitrinot\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sri Lanka paves the way for MICE holidays in Covid times","description":"Sri Lanka has created a very flexible quarantine called the \"organic bubble\", which offers travellers a wide range of activities, particularly for MICE.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Asie : le Sri Lanka, destination mod\u00e8le pour le MICE en temps de pand\u00e9mie","og_description":"Le Sri Lanka a cr\u00e9\u00e9 une quarantaine tr\u00e8s flexible appel\u00e9e \"bulle bio\" qui permet aux voyageurs de nombreuses activit\u00e9s, notamment pour le MICE.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice","og_site_name":"Voyages d&#039;affaires","article_published_time":"2021-04-09T07:50:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-10T10:44:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/old-parliamentcolombo-sri-lanka.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Luc Citrinot","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Luc Citrinot","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice","url":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice","name":"Sri Lanka paves the way for MICE holidays in Covid times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/old-parliamentcolombo-sri-lanka.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-09T07:50:47+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-10T10:44:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c74b2eea412d55da7482e81e95f8edc3"},"description":"Sri Lanka has created a very flexible quarantine called the \"organic bubble\", which offers travellers a wide range of activities, particularly for MICE.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/old-parliamentcolombo-sri-lanka.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/old-parliamentcolombo-sri-lanka.jpg","width":640,"height":480,"caption":"L'ancien parlement au c\u0153ur de Colombo, la capitale du Sri Lanka (D.R.)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/sri-lanka-destination-modele-mice#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Asie : le Sri Lanka, destination mod\u00e8le pour le MICE en temps de pand\u00e9mie"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/","name":"Business travel","description":"THE FRENCH BUSINESS TRAVEL &amp; MICE MEDIA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c74b2eea412d55da7482e81e95f8edc3","name":"Luc Citrinot","url":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/author\/luccitrinot"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108053"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159467,"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108053\/revisions\/159467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108053"},{"taxonomy":"type-darticle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type-darticle?post=108053"},{"taxonomy":"n_magazine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/n_magazine?post=108053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}