Two days from the expiry of the ministerial decree signed by the number one Italian health official, Roberto Speranza, it is practically certain that there will be no opening to tourism in Sub-Saharan Africa (almost certainly in the rest of the continent as well) and that no new "covid-free corridors" will be introduced as our colleague at the Ministry of Tourism, Garavaglia, had suggested.
This time, the alibi is provided by the South African variant Omicron which, although it is not claiming any victims and not even in the African nation where it was discovered is cause for concern, has put the whole of Europe on alert. Europe, fortunately excluding Italy for now, is also struggling with additional waves of positivity.
In fact, Kenya would have several reasons to deserve a reopening of Italy to tourism, in view of the Christmas vacations. To illustrate them and make a serious analysis, Malindikenya.net relies on the expert entrepreneur of the hotel and travel industry, with forty years of experience in Italy-Kenya connections Pasquale Tiritò.
"We realize that the situation of the pandemic in Europe pushes more governments to restrictive measures than to "openings" but in the case of Kenya we must emphasize the peculiarities of the relationship between the Italians and this country - explains Tiritò - Kenya, in the eyes of our Ministry of Health, has a disadvantage: the low percentage of vaccinated, or, to date, 12% of the adult population. This is a figure 5 points lower than that of Egypt, which, however, has been opened for the Red Sea corridors (Sharm and Marsa Allam) and is still far from the 50% indicated as a safety threshold by our Ministry of Health".
However, there are undoubtedly some points in Kenya's favor.
"Sure. The government has introduced mandatory vaccination certification for all incoming travelers of age starting December 21. This is a measure that reinforces those already in place such as the obligation to test negative 96 hours before arrival. In addition, Malindi and Watamu are already full of Italians for the holiday period, we do not know if all in compliance with the regulations, since the controls in the Italian airports are practically absent, if not for the qr code and green passes. Tourists or not, if they contract Covid they could be a problem for our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and for the Embassy. Among the different tourist destinations, probably with the greatest presence of Italians, certainly more than Zanzibar or Sharm".
So a tourist corridor could give more security and be one less risk factor for our institutions.
"Exactly, because it provides for the organization of a tour operator, obliges travelers to have an insurance that covers risks from Covid. All that gray area of unchecked or without the requirements could be channeled into a safer environment. Among other things, having resort staff, transfer and safari operators vaccinated is feasible and adds to the existing protocols. In addition, the health situation in the country, a topic that seems to be ignored, has seen on the one hand an index of positivity similar to the Italian one, but on the other a much lower effectiveness of the virus. It is now two weeks that no deaths have been recorded, and those admitted to intensive care are always less than 10, while those admitted to hospital throughout Kenya are around 200. In conclusion, a tourist corridor would only make safer a situation that already exists and potentially brings more problems for our compatriots and our authorities".