Laos will drop Covid-19 entry restrictions for fully vaccinated tourists from Monday after the country reported falling coronavirus cases and deaths, senior officials said.
The small South-east Asian nation saw an 80 per cent downturn in international traveller numbers in 2020 ― 4.7 million foreign tourists visited the previous year.
From January, travellers were required to complete seven days of quarantine, present a negative Covid-19 test and were limited to travelling within certain areas with officially sanctioned tour groups.
Deputy Minister and Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office Thipphakone Chanthavongsa said on Saturday that a task force's recommendations that "measures for entering Laos PDR and relaxation for locals" had been approved.
"The Government sees it is time to develop the economy," she said.
As part of the relaxed measures, international checkpoints will be reopened for Laotian citizens and foreigners, provided they are fully vaccinated.
Unvaccinated visitors must produce a Rapid Antigen Test issued within 48 hours of leaving their origin country.
Tourists will also have to pay for their own medical treatment should they become Covid-19 positive.
Laos officials added that pubs and karaoke bars could reopen.
The country has reported 663,533 coronavirus cases and 16,509 deaths.
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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