How’s this for an interesting turn of events.
The Trudeau government in Canada, which was roundly criticized in some circles for being too strict about travel restrictions during the pandemic, eliminated all travel rules on Saturday, October 1. But the U.S. hasn’t done the same.
As of today, October 5, the U.S. still requires all non U.S. residents to show proof of vaccination before entering the country. It’s not an overly onerous policy (no troublesome apps to deal with or random testing), but it’s something that the U.S. tourism industry says discourages visitors from taking trips to New York City, California and other popular destinations in the States.
The U.S. Travel Association, which has been calling on the Biden administration to fully ease COVID-related travel restrictions for months, applauded Canada’s decision.
[The Canadian government] is taking the right step by lifting its vaccine and testing requirement to enter Canada, which will give its economy a substantial boost,” said Tori Emerson Barnes, U.S. Travel’s executive vice president of public affairs and policy. “[The U.S. government] should follow suit by immediately suspending proof of vaccination for qualified visitors from Canada and other nations, given the wide access to effective COVID boosters and therapies.”
Emerson Barnes noted that Canada is the number one source of international travelers to the U.S.
“We should take every action to accelerate recovery from this vital market,” she said.
The travel website Open Jaw reports that “the U.S. remains the last major western country to still require proof of vaccination for border arrivals. Non-residents arriving in the U.S. by air, land or water must still show proof of vaccination. That stance now sees the U.S. isolated, not only on the continent, but in the Western world.”
“Especially now that Canada has dropped all of its Covid requirements, again allowing unvaccinated foreigners, including Americans, to enter, the isolation of the United States is even more noticeable,” a story in traveloffpath.com stated. “Prior to this week, the Canada-U.S. duo had backed each other up by being North America’s toughest nations when it came to pandemic management.”
The U.S. keeping strict rules while Canada gets all relaxed about COVID. Whodathunkit?
