Safe travel to the Azores: Recommendations

Azores

The Azores archipelago, according to European Best Destinations (EBD), was considered one of the safest destinations to travel in Europe – according to European Safest Destinations 2020, an appointment carried out by EBD.

The set of nine paradise islands, composed of three groups (Eastern, Central and Western) is mainly a tourist destination of nature, full of outdoor activities. This is one of the reasons why the destination is safer and, moreover, its natural beauty expressed by its lagoons, waterfalls, volcanic craters and viewpoints leaves anyone surrendered.

4º destino mais seguro da Europa.
Fonte: Europe Best Destinations

Safe Stay: Good Practices

To have a trip and a stay in full security you have to be a public health agent. With this in mind, you will have to protect yourself and in that way you will protect others too.
By following these simple and basic steps your safety will be guaranteed:
a) Wear a mask in common use areas;
b) Comply with the recommended social distance of two metres;
c) Wash your hands frequently with soap or an alcohol-based solution;
d) Follow the rules of respiratory label;

Azores Clean & Safe Program

The Regional Government of the Azores in partnership with some entities in the tourism sector created the Clean & Safe Azores program. This program aims to ensure the safety of people who frequent the various spaces and ensure that these spaces have all the measures to combat the spread of the SARS-COV-2 virus.
All spaces that have this seal are safe and can attend with the utmost confidence. For any other questions that may arise, please contact: esclarecimentocovid19@azores.gov.pt or (+351) 800 29 29 29.
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What to do before your trip to the Azores?

The traveller should fill in:
1) A Risk Assessment and Early Detection questionnaire – Azores in Security (available on Link);
2) A declaration on arrival in the Azores available through this link – http://destinoseguro.azores.gov.pt;
In addition, in order to visit the Azores, it is mandatory to have performed a screening test to SARS-COV-2, in your country of origin, at least 72 hours before your flight.
  • Travellers from mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Region of Madeira may take these screening tests free of charge at laboratories directed by the Government of the Azores. In this link, you will have access to the list of laboratories.
  • The other cases will have to present, at the entrance to the Azores, the paper declaration with the NEGATIVE result of the screening test. This test must clearly show the date, time of the result and the use of the RT-PCR methodology. Without this, the declaration will not have its proper effect.
  • If it is impossible to take the test in advance, the test can be taken on arrival in the Azores, free of charge.
(It is advisable to consult the recommendations of the airline that will use for your trip)

Arrival in the Azores

SARS-COV-2 screening test ALREADY 72h before departure

You will be served quickly at the airport and can then begin your visit to the Azores (including inter-island trips). For this purpose you should:
  • Hand in your duly completed paper declaration on arrival at the airport;
  • Deliver, together with the declaration, the NEGATIVE result of the screening test, done with the RT-PCR methodology;

Screening test to SARS-COV-2 NOT CARRIED OUT 72 hours before departure

If that is the case, then you should:
  • Deliver the completed paper declaration on arrival at the airport;
  • Perform the screening test on SARS-COV-2;
  • Wait in prophylactic isolation, at home or accommodation unit, until you get the NEGATIVE test result;
  • Travellers whose final destination is another island of the Azores, other than their arrival island, will have to wait for the NEGATIVE result of the test in a hotel unit for that purpose indicated by the Government of the Azores, which will also deal with the respective airport transfers;

(All travellers arriving in the Azores and staying for 7 or more days in the archipelago will have to perform a second screening test on the 6th day from the date of the first test)

After arriving in the Azores

After your arrival in the Azores, you will find companies that have joined the Clean & Safe Azores Seal, all of them with the commitment to:
  • To have the establishments clean and disinfected;
  • The transport vehicles to be clean and disinfected;
  • In the facilities and transport for collective use all have to wear a mask;
  • Apply measures to avoid agglomeration and ensure physical distance of 2 meters;
  • Ensure that capacity in spaces and means of transport is limited to 2/3;
  • Make alcohol-based disinfectants available in common passages;
  • Provide means of automatic payment and contactless;
  • Have contingency plans that prevent transmission and know how to act in case of illness;
  • Employees have training on COVID-19;
For your trip to the Azores to be even better and better prepared, ask one of our guides.
Ask for yours at the more than 200 distribution points along the nine islands. You can find our guide at the airports, ports, tourist offices in the region and at all the establishments of the 170 clients who advertise with us. We are also present in Lisbon at the Azores Regional Tourism Delegation.
Our guide is free for the user.

(This information has been compiled according to the official information available at destinoseguro.azores.gov.pt.
Through this link, you will have access to a pocket booklet with all this information).

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