Andalucía has kicked off 2021 with a new campaign to reinforce its position as a safe destination to travel.

A free medical insurance policy with Covid-19 coverage for non-resident international tourists is being offered to entice visitors back to the region.

The Junta de Andalucía has said that to benefit from this offer, travellers must stay in any type of regional government regulated establishment which can include hotels, tourist apartments, hostels, aparthotels, campsites and rural houses.

This initiative will continue throughout the year, and will be operated by Europ Assistance.

"This is a free medical insurance for all foreign tourists, who are not residents, who travel to Andalucía by any means of transport between 1 January and 31 December and without age limit," although the regional governments said end date may be extended if necessary.

Helpline

The Junta said the insurance scheme would cover “the medical, surgical and hospitalisation expenses for Covid-19, those of transport and repatriation and costs derived from an extension of the stay by quarantine.”

In addition, tourists will have a multilingual 24-hour helpline available to answer their questions.

The initiative is “a response to a demand from the sector", said the regional government.

“We want to promote the reactivation of international tourism,” they say acknowledging the sector is "having a worse time at the moment and to encourage its reopening and the generation of business especially in areas such as the coast and in some cities which attract international tourism.”

Although the Junta is unable to gauge what the scheme will cost given the impact of Covid-19 and restrictions on mobility, they do point out that in a normal year there would be more than 11 million international travellers staying in registered accommodation across the region.

An international marketing campaign to promote the insurance to a worldwide audience will also be rolled out.