Tourism Ireland welcomes news about the lifting of additional pre-testing requirement for travel to the island of Ireland. For visitors arriving into the Republic of Ireland from today (January 6) onward, vaccinated people with a valid Digital Covid Certificate or another valid proof of recent infection or vaccination will not need a test. Unvaccinated people will need a “not detected” PCR test result taken within 72 hours of their arrival into Ireland. These new regulations are effective immediately for the Republic of Ireland: • Vaccinated or recovered travellers into Ireland will be required to present evidence of a valid Digital Read more
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The Omicron variant is wreaking havoc with Canadian airlines. A day after Air Canada Vacations said it was trimming flights and packages to a dozen or so sun destinations, Transat A.T. said it’s slashing its winter routes by 30%, and Porter Airlines said they’ll likely have to make cuts of their own. A Canadian Press story on the Global News site today said Transat blamed “the ongoing impact of the Omicron variant and the federal government’s Dec. 15 recommendation against non-essential travel abroad have triggered a wave of trip cancellations.” The cuts are due to stay in place until February Read more
Destination Analysts has released a new poll that shows Americans are ready to travel again. And that’s good news for the industry. The company issued a press release today (January 3) to say that the Omicron variant did, indeed impact holiday travel and is impacting future travel. But maybe not as much as some thought. “The number of American travelers reporting that that the situation with the Omicron variant has impacted their travel continued to grow, to 32.9%, up from 30.9% two weeks prior. Of the group of travelers who were impacted, 50.7% say they have postponed one or more Read more
As if dealing with COVID-19 and the Omicron variant weren’t enough, travelers are now facing problems lining up the tests they need to travel. Canadians who travel outside the country and want to return need to show negative results from a PCR-style COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of their scheduled departure. But there are reports of long lineups at testing sites in the U.S., which is frustrating travelers to no end. Fox13 News in Tampa said the demand for testing has risen quickly as new virus cases rise in the Tampa Bay Area. “Hillsborough County has seen more than Read more
It wasn’t too hard to predict what travel would be like in 2021. Judging the year ahead seems trickier to me. In mid-November, I was fairly confident that 2022 would be pretty darn good for travel and tourism. Maybe not everywhere, but probably in North America, Europe and the Caribbean. Hotels were re-opening in Toronto and other cities, airlines were announcing new routes, and tourism boards were actually travelling to other destinations to promote their brand. But then Omicron appeared out of nowhere, and a feeling of “here we go again” dread came over many of us in the travel Read more
