Post-Covid travel isn’t equal for all

The US reopened its borders, welcoming fully vaccinated foreign travelers after a long 604 days of closure.
I was one of them, leaving the UK for the first time since February 2020 to fly to New York City. Thankfully, the whole process was a breeze, except for a punishingly breeze-free stint in the stuffy corridor that led me through border control and away from John F Kennedy International Airport.
Most of the hard work — getting my vaccination and fit-to-fly certificates — was done before I even reached the airport, and a handy app called Verifly meant I didn’t need to cart around reams of paper printouts. If you’re an American looking to travel elsewhere, it’s even easier, as Brooke Sutherland discovered on a recent trip to Paris. To enter France as a vaccinated American, she just needed to show proof of vaccination and sign a health declaration form. That was it. No test, no quarantine. It left her feeling pretty optimistic about international travel’s recovery. While most territories do still have some sort of restriction or requirement for travelers in place, things are becoming more permissive.
Reopening the US border was no doubt a huge moment for friends and families who have been separated for the duration of the pandemic. But it’s also a big moment for the travel industry. While traveller numbers are far above what they were in 2020, this year’s levels are still below what they were in 2019. It’s a little too soon to say that the border reopening will be a turning point — but it ought to help. The US is the biggest recipient of inbound tourist dollars and the second-biggest spender on outbound tourism.

—Bloomberg