Taiwan lifted all its Coronavirus entry limitations on Thursday, permitting tourists unfettered access the self-ruled island after more than 2.5 years of border controls.

Hong Kong and Taiwan, along with mainland China, expected most guests to finish a compulsory quarantine period all through the pandemic, even as most nations resumed their boundaries to tourists.

Guests are no longer required to quarantine upon entry, or take any PCR tests. All things considered, they should monitor their health for seven days subsequent to showing up, and get a negative result on a quick antigen test the day they show up.

To go out during the weeklong monitoring period, they need a negative test from either that day or the other day. There are likewise at this point not any limitations on specific nationalities being permitted to enter Taiwan.

Many guests from Thailand were among the first to show up under the new guidelines at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport, which serves the capital Taipei, on a Tiger Air flight that landed shortly after midnight.

Tourists like 32-year-old Mac Chientachakul and his folks were eager to visit the island.

“Hot pot is my favourite dish in Taiwan,” Chientachakul said. “It’s my first thing to do … I miss it so much.”

Sonia Chang, a travel agent, said the progressions are great for the tourism industry and Taiwanese residents, who can now travel abroad without quarantine when they return home.

Valaisurang Bhaedhayajibh, a 53-year-old business development director of a design firm, called the new guidelines helpful.

“We don’t have to do the test before coming here, and also after arriving,” he said. “We are still required to do the self-test every two days, and everything has been provided” by Taiwanese authorities, including the rapid testing kits.

At a welcome ceremony in the Taoyuan airport’s arrival hall, the travellers from Thailand were met by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau’s director, Chang Shi-chung, who handed out gifts.

Taiwan’s tourism bureau assessed that a total of 244 tourists from 20 tour groups will show up Thursday.

With both Hong Kong and Taiwan disposing of limitations and inviting back tourists, mainland China stays one of the few places in the world keeping borders shut and sticking to a “zero-Covid” strategy. Hong Kong finished its mandatory quarantine policy for inbound travellers before the end of last month, requiring only a three-day self-monitoring period.