Editor's Note: The COVID-19 policies and procedures listed below are up-to-date as of press time. However, we encourage all readers to head to each individual country’s governmental tourism website prior to travel to confirm the information regarding entry protocols.
U.S. leisure travelers have been eligible to return to French Polynesia since May 1, but in order to avoid an otherwise mandatory 10-day quarantine, they need to be either fully vaccinated prior to arrival or show proof they’ve recovered from COVID-19 with an antibody test.
All American visitors ages 11 and older will also need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test, taken no more than three days before their departure, according to the Tahiti Tourisme website, where revised testing and vaccine protocols for U.S. visitors were posted on May 3.
French Polynesia closed its borders to international visitors Feb. 3, after government officials in France suspended all travel to and from non-EU destinations — except in emergencies — and extended that ban on leisure trips to France’s overseas territories, including French Polynesia.
U.S. leisure visitors looking to avoid quarantine in French Polynesia will now need to provide documentation demonstrating that they’ve received both of their Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca shots — or their lone Johnson & Johnson dose — at least 14 days prior to their departure date.
Travelers who have recovered from COVID-19, meanwhile, need to upload results of serology testing completed 15 to 30 days prior to departure, demonstrating the presence of antibodies, according to the Tahiti Tourisme website.
All American visitors will also be required to complete online registration forms and show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than three days before boarding their flight. Arriving visitors will then be subject to a mandatory antigen COVID-19 test at the airport in French Polynesia and will need to complete another self-administered COVID-19 test on their fourth day in the destination.
According to the Tahiti Tourisme website, travelers will ultimately be saddled with a bill for the antigen test on arrival and the self-administered test on day four. Cost for those tests will be about $50 for vaccinated and immune visitors, but it remains unclear when the destination will actually begin charging those fees.
David Hu, president of Classic Vacations, described French Polynesia’s revised testing and vaccine requirements as “a good move.”
“These things will continue to evolve,” Hu said. “But I think this is the right first step.”
These things will continue to evolve, but I think this is the right first step.
Classic has seen an increase in both inquiries and bookings for French Polynesia since the destination announced its May 1 reopening plan, according to Hu, who said the weeks of uncertainty about when visitors would be welcomed back really dampened demand.
“After we started getting a little bit more clarity and we heard [about the reopening on] May 1, the numbers have been fantastic,” he said.
Gigi Becker, owner of Virtuoso-affiliated Empyrean Travel Management in Los Angeles, said she has also seen an increase in inquiries for French Polynesia since the May 1 reopening announcement, and has also booked new vacations, including two trips she firmed up in late April.
Becker said she was happy to see French Polynesia release the updated testing and vaccine requirements for U.S. travelers, but she was initially surprised that some children — who are not currently eligible for vaccination in the U.S. because they’re too young — would be subject to the destination’s mandatory 10-day quarantine.
Tourism officials in French Polynesia have since said children under age 6 are not subject to quarantine. But those 6 to 11, who cannot currently be vaccinated in the U.S., would still be required to quarantine for 10 days on arrival in Tahiti.
“Tahiti, in the past, was focusing on honeymoons and couples and romance, but in recent years they’ve really been putting more of a focus on families,” Becker said, noting she has a number of families with kids booked to French Polynesia in the coming months. “Summer is coming up, and there are a lot of families that are traveling. … So, the news about the vaccine requirement even for kids … was a bit of a shock.”
Raschinna Findlay, a Protravel International advisor in Beverly Hills, Calif., was also caught off-guard by the inoculation requirement for some children who cannot yet receive COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S.
“It’s making it an adults-only destination,” Findlay said, noting she frequently sends families to Bora Bora. “I hope they will change that. … There are other places people with children can go without having to put up with this restriction.”
Home to more than 118 islands and just under 300,000 residents, French Polynesia has done a good job containing COVID-19 since closing its borders to tourism in February this year, reducing new cases to now fewer than 20 a week, Tahiti Tourisme officials said earlier this month. Vaccine distribution has also ramped up, and is now open to all.
U.S. travelers looking to fulfill the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention requirement that residents provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test before returning home can take advantage of a testing facility open daily at Faa’a International Airport in Papeete, according to Tahiti Tourisme officials.
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