Lupine Travel, a tour operator offering trips to the secretive Asian state, said that tourists will have their temperatures taken each morning as part of a monitoring process put in place by a state fearful of the Ebola virus entering the country.

Dylan Harris from Lupine Travel said that monitors from the Pyongyang Friendship Hospital, which deals with foreigners and VIPs, “will take the temperatures each morning at the hotel prior to departing for the day’s tour.”

He said that it was not clear at present exactly how temperatures would be checked, but said he was “certainly hoping it is by mouth.”

North Korean authorities announced on Tuesday that it is reopening its borders to foreign visitors after a four-month ban was put in place in October.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that, although British tourists would not be placed in quarantine, like visitors from the Ebola-struck region of western Africa, they would “be placed under medical observation for 21 days by the Pyongyang friendship hospital.”

Mr Harris said he did not think tourists interested in visiting North Korea would be put off by the medical checks.

The lifting of the ban on visitors might have come just in time for hopeful marathon runners, with some tour operators accepting applications again from foreigners who want to compete in the Pyongyang Marathon, due to be held next month.



A hospital poster in North Korea

However the Arirang Mass Games, a large-scale, highly choreographed gymnastics and dance festival that is usually a major draw for foreign tourists, has been cancelled for the second year in a row.

This has come as a disappointment to some. Mr Harris said that, after last year’s cancellation, many people rebooked hoping to see the games this year.

As an alternative, Regent Holidays suggests a group tour departure in October that coincides with celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Workers’ Party on October 10, which are expected to include dancing, fireworks and a military parade. Young Pioneer Tours also has a trip coinciding with Liberation Day on August 15, which marks the end of the Japanese occupation of Korea.

For those unable to see the marathon, Lupine Travel has a tour in September with an option to participate in the DPRK Amateur Golf Open, a 36-hole tournament that takes place at North Korea’s only open golf course.



A golf course in North Korea

Nick Bonner, co-founder and director of Koryo Tours, said that for every person his company sends to run the marathon, it will donate 365 extra meals to its project to send nutritional food packages to North Korean orphanages.

He added: "The fact that the restrictions of the last four months have now been lifted is not just good news for those interested in visiting one of the world’s most mysterious countries, but also in terms of the work that can now continue in breaking down the barriers and misunderstanding that still exist, and resuming the positive engagement projects that we are able to operate in tandem with tourism to North Korea.”