Many countries are starting to ease restrictions and reopen to fully vaccinated travellers. For example, Israel, Greece, and Iceland are now allowing vaccinated travellers to enter without needing to quarantine or provide a negative COVID-19 test.
- The coronavirus pandemic has prompted several airlines to launch new health and safety initiatives, such as enhanced cleaning protocols, mandatory masks, and contactless check-in and boarding.
- Dubai has recently become one of the busiest destinations for travellers, as it has relaxed COVID-19 restrictions and implemented strict health protocols.
- The World Tourism Organization predicts that international tourism could rebound in 2021 and 2022, as more people receive vaccines and travel restrictions are relaxed.
- The concept of digital health passports, which would enable travellers to store and present their COVID-19 test results and vaccination status on their smartphones, is being explored by many countries and airlines.
- The UK government recently announced their traffic light system for international travel where countries are classified as green, amber and red based on their level of COVID-19 risks, and travellers will be subject to different rules based on their destination’s class.
- Many popular tourist destinations have been hit badly by the pandemic, and are currently struggling to recover. Some countries are exploring new ways to attract tourists, such as Thailand’s introduction of a “Phuket Sandbox” program, which allows fully vaccinated visitors to enter the country without quarantine if they stay in Phuket for 14 days.