Global Tourism

Photo: ©rfranca/123rf

The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that the sector lost nearly $4.5 trillion and 62 million jobs last year. Airlines alone lost $126 billion last year and are on track to lose another $48 billion this year, according to their largest trade group.

The rollout of vaccines against Covid-19 is giving government officials in many countries new confidence to welcome visitors. But time is critical.

“Summer is a strong season for most markets, particularly Europe and the U.K. We really hope to see restrictions ease,” said Virginia Messina, interim leader of the World Travel & Tourism Council.

The patchwork of rules around the globe can be hard to follow for anyone planning a trip. Cyprus, for instance, has restrictions in place for countries deemed as higher risk, requiring arriving passengers to have a negative PCR test that’s valid 72 hours prior to their departure and to undergo a new test upon arrival. They also have to self-isolate in Cyprus until their test results are issued.

Europe has been opening slowly, testing the patience of Mediterranean countries that rely heavily on tourism, including Greece, Spain, and Turkey. That is changing now, as European Union ambassadors agreed last week to allow in visitors who are fully vaccinated or are from a now-expanded list of countries whose citizens are deemed to be safe.

EU member countries still have to approve the changes, and it’s not clear exactly when they would take effect.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Friday that Spain will let British and Japanese visitors enter the country starting Monday if they have been vaccinated and people from other countries, including the United States, on June 7.

Tourists are already beginning to show up in Greece after authorities there decided this month to accept vaccination and test certificates from the European Union and 21 other countries.

The virus is surging again across parts of Asia, causing several nations to halt cautious steps they had been taking to reopen.

Hong Kong and Singapore postponed a quarantine-free “travel bubble” for a second time after a new outbreak, and Hong Kong lengthened mandatory quarantines for many unvaccinated visitors. China set up checkpoints at toll booths, airports and train stations in Liaoning province, site of new cases this month — travelers must show proof of a recent negative test for the virus.

Thailand, which closed its borders and managed to keep outbreaks under control for most of last year, gradually began allowing entry to some foreign visitors in the fall under strict controls. But the country reversed course when it became overwhelmed by its worst outbreak in late March.

Bangkok closed entertainment venues and parks, ordered more people to work from home, and banned outdoor dining. Streets in the capital and many of Thailand’s resorts are nearly deserted, and people who have lost tourism-related jobs are second-guessing the authorities.

At the height of the pandemic last year, the United Arab Emirates closed its borders and shuttered airports to travelers. The capital, Abu Dhabi, still has strict measures including mandatory quarantines even for fully vaccinated residents returning from certain countries. But the UAE’s biggest city, Dubai, has opened its doors to travelers since last July with few restrictions beyond a negative Covid-19 test.

Dubai — home to the world’s busiest airport for international travel — is courting visitors fleeing lockdowns in Europe with open beaches, bars, hotel pools, restaurants, movie theaters, theme parks and spas. Social distancing and mask mandates are in place.

Meanwhile, the Gulf’s largest country of Saudi Arabia is not permitting tourists into the country. Saudi citizens, who have largely been banned from travel since March 2020, are allowed to travel abroad starting this month if they have been vaccinated or recently recovered from the virus.

Egypt is trying to draw more foreign tourists even as it deals with a new wave of infections. It exempted beaches, cafes and restaurants tied to tourist hotels from new restrictions, like an earlier curfew and the closure of public beaches and parks during the Eid holiday. It even lowered the cost of tourist visas, although it still requires a negative COVID-19 test before entering the country.

Visitors to the tourism-dependent Caribbean tumbled by two-thirds last year to levels not seen since the 1980s. Bermuda was among the hardest hit, suffering an 84% drop.

A handful of islands, including Bonaire, Martinique and Montserrat, still ban travel from most countries. Elsewhere, tourists are trickling back under requirements that include electronic monitoring. Some islands, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, have created “bubble resorts” to take tourists. Cruise lines are planning to shift ships from the U.S. to Caribbean ports this summer.

The U.S. Virgin Islands have been the region’s success story this year, with arrivals down a modest 27% from January through March — much of that due to Americans who are forbidden in other places and can visit the U.S. territory without a passport if they avoid going through another country on the way.

Mexico has no flight restrictions, no requirements for visitors to pass a test or quarantine upon arrival. That has kept a reduced but steady flow of tourists, especially to beach destinations.

Mexico’s laid-back approach, however, could be creating a backlash in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo, which includes Cancún and Cozumel and where tourism accounts for 87% of the economy. Infection and hospitalization rates are rising, and stricter capacity limits have been imposed in public places.

“If nothing is done right now in reducing activities in public, this trend will grow and grow and grow and grow,” the federal government’s point man on the pandemic, Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell, warned this month.

Associated Press.

MORE NEWS

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

WE ARE IN SOCIAL NETWORKS