Coronavirus travel update. Welcome to the YPT COVID-19 / Coronavirus travel updates page. With this page we aim to give up to date travel advice on which countries are open to tourism during the current pandemic. As you might imagine one of the most frequent questions we are getting asked right now is which countries […]

Ready to party like its 1998? Way before most western companies were taking tourists to North Korea tourism was very much happening in the country. Firstly Chinese visitors have frequently visited the country, particularly through Sinuiju. Fun fact Sinuju gets roughly 200,000 visitors a year from China, or at least they used to pre-Covid.. To […]

Russia to open to tourism by August 9th according to a report by “Traveling Lifestyle”, although as yet there is scant other corroborating news. If the information proves to be correct it will be great news for our Soviet Tours , although with China closed will make taking the Trans-Siberian to Moscow this October still […]

Saudi Arabia to reopen for tourism as of August 1st according to a report from Reuters. In a statement released by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Tourism they stated; “Vaccinated tourists will be allowed to enter without having to be institutionally quarantined upon providing a negative Covid-19 PCR test and a vaccination certificate,” This has […]

Kurdistan to open to vaccinated tourists without need for a negative PCR test, or any form of quarantine, according to a new health ministry advisory. The new decree also exempts anyone who has received a negative PCR test within the previous 48 hours from having to take a test on arrival. This follows on from […]

Thailand open to vaccinated tourists according to a new announcement from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). This follows on from what is slowly becoming a global trend for countries to open their borders to people who have received one of the World Health Organization (WHO) approved vaccines. Note this does not currently include the […]

Cambodia open to tourism by October according to plans released by the Ministry of Tourism (MOT). On May 31st the MOT held a meeting with major private-sector stakeholders to discuss re-opening Cambodia to tourism, where a roadmap and tentative plan were put into place. The plans will initially see the country open up to group […]

When will south-east Asia be open for tourism again? While many had hoped that the second half of 2021 would see a rebound in the tourism industry, different mutations of the virus, vastly differing paces of vaccination, as well as lack of coordination are severely hampering the recovery prospects of the travel industry in south-eat […]

The EU to open to tourism is a huge shake up for the European travel industry. The EU commission has recommended easing restrictions on non-essential which basically means tourists travelling from non-EU states. The EU Commission tweeted the following on the 3rd of May, 2021. “Time to revive EU tourism industry and for cross-border friendships […]

Which countries cannot visit North Korea? The only country that North Korea restricts visitors from is South Korea (the Republic of Korea), whose citizens need special permission (from both governments). There are other countries, such as the USA who ban their citizens from going to the country, although much like Cuba, this is not an […]