The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging governments to accelerate relaxation of travel restrictions as COVID-19 continues to evolve from the pandemic to endemic stage. IATA this week called for removing all travel barriers (including quarantine and testing) for those fully vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine, enabling quarantine-free travel for non-vaccinated travelers with a negative pre-departure antigen test result, removing travel bans, and accelerating the easing of travel restrictions in recognition that travelers pose no greater risk for COVID-19 spread than already exists in the general population. “With the experience of the Omicron variant, there is mounting scientific evidence Read more
Europe
TRAVEL NOTEBOOK JANUARY 25, 2021: Great Britain and Australia easing travel rules, Calgary hotel owners cry for help, and American travel confidence grows. My first item of the day is a very big story out of Great Britain. Associated Press reports that the British government announced Monday “that it is scrapping coronavirus testing requirements for vaccinated people arriving in England, news hailed by the travel industry as a big step back to normality.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the move is being made “to show that this country is open for business, open for travelers. You will see changes so Read more
The Irish Government announced today (January 21) that almost all Covid-19 public health restrictions will come to an end. From tomorrow, restaurants and bars can resume normal trading hours; and restrictions on indoor and outdoor events, including sporting fixtures, will be lifted. “The announcement that most Covid-19 restrictions in Ireland will come to an end is excellent news for tourism and hospitality. It means that we can now move forward and begin planning holidays in Ireland with confidence for the year ahead,” said Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland. We can now look to the future with optimism. “Tourism Read more
So, this is interesting. A new study called the Tourism Sentiment Index has looked at the “most loved” destinations around the world, and it’s not at all what you might expect. Richmond, British Columbia was the top Canadian destination listed, coming 34th overall. Mississauga, Ontario was 42nd in the world and finished second in Canada. The company, which is based in Vancouver, said its findings were “drawn from more than 1.6 billion online conversations and content pieces publicly available about 21,330 global destinations.” “Our work with destinations is amassing a continuously expanding dataset within Tourism Sentiment Index,” the group said Read more
A website called Build Your Aquarium has come up with a list of the most photographed islands in the world. From Bali to Santorini, and Hawaii to Sicily, here’s the top 10.
