Let's start with the good news: The United States is working on “a new system for international travel,” which would go into effect when it lifts the current travel restrictions that ban most of the world from entering the country, according to Reuters. The bad news is that some industry leaders feel the United States is still months away from reopening, perhaps not doing so until 2022.
According to the report, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients told the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board that the administration does not plan to immediately relax any travel restrictions. He cited the rising COVID-19 Delta variant cases in the U.S. and around the world. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo added in the same meeting that before the U.S. can reopen, it needs to handle the COVID situation domestically first, “which requires us to get everyone vaccinated.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 64.4 percent of the total population has received at least one dose of the vaccination. Just over half (54.1 percent) of the total population has been fully vaccinated.
What can we expect from the new system? According to Zients, vaccination may be required (he urged travel companies like airlines to quickly mandate employee vaccines), as well as contact tracing information to enable the CDC to contact travelers if exposed to COVID-19.
Trade Response
Following the news, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) issued the following statement: “A plan to restart international travel is long overdue. We urge the Biden Administration to finalize this plan as quickly as possible and to otherwise make safely restarting international travel occur by opening borders an immediate priority.
"The plan should incorporate the common-sense measures we called for along with our travel industry colleagues last week, including expeditiously developing clear vaccination and testing standards, loosening entry restrictions for fully vaccinated travelers and aligning standards with the governments of our main outbound markets, including Canada, the E.U. and the U.K. Given its enormous impact on the global economy, an expedited recovery of cross-border travel is critical.
"The travel and tourism industry has been, and continues to be, disproportionately impacted by this pandemic and will be the last sector to recovery. At the same time, financial relief provided to our sector from governments here and abroad has been uneven at best.
"The travel industry as a whole will not recover from COVID until international travel restarts in earnest. We urge the Biden Administration in the strongest possible terms to do its part to make that happen.”
Vaccine Requirements for Domestic Travel?
On September 8, Representative Don Beyer of Virginia introduced a bill, titled the “Safe Travel Act,” that would require passengers, employees, contractors and subcontractors of Amtrak and air carriers to provide proof of vaccination against COVID–19 or a negative test for COVID–19 for transportation or employment. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the president, according to The Hill, said he would support such a measure.
On this, U.S. Travel Association EVP of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement: “The science—including studies from the Harvard School of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Defense—overwhelmingly points to the safety of air travel as long as masks are worn. And with the federal mask mandate for all forms of public transportation and U.S. airports extended through January 2022, proper tools are already in place to enable safe air travel for Americans.
“U.S. Travel has long maintained that there should be no mandatory vaccination requirement for domestic travel. Such a policy would have an unfair, negative impact on families with young children who are not yet eligible to get the vaccine.
“While U.S. Travel does not endorse a national vaccine mandate, we continue to believe that vaccines are the fastest path back to normalcy for all, and we strongly encourage all who are eligible to get a vaccine immediately to protect themselves, their families and their neighbors.”
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