How the Travel Industry is Responding to the CDC’s Latest COVID-19 Travel Requirements

The travel industry has been anything but quiet and quickly responding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest announcement from Jan. 12 . Aiming to slow the spread of the coronavirus, beginning Jan. 26, the CDC will be requiring a negative COVID-19 test from all air travelers before boarding their flight to the U.S. While this new mandate is a key safety measurement, it raises questions and concerns about delaying the industry’s recovery.

Here is how the industry has responded so far.

The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA)

On Jan. 13, Zane Kerby, President and CEO of ASTA, released a statement responding to the CDC’s announcement. Although “ASTA supports an accurate, rapid-response testing regime for airline travelers in lieu of mandatory quarantines and travel bans,” Kerby simultaneously warned that the new testing regulation “will not halt the virus’ spread due to lag time between test and flight, incubation period, and false positives.” In other words, this new requirement could lead to “stranded passengers, missed connections and cancelled flights.”

In the statement issued Wednesday, Jan. 13, Kerby added “Now that vaccines are available, we have a solution to ensure that travelers are protected.” ASTA continues to stay committed to advocating and providing more resources for vaccine distribution, “increasing the capacity and timeliness of testing in our own backyard, and a federal mandate requiring masks in public places.” Additionally, Kerby said, “The CDC Director has said that wearing a mask is the single most important step you can take to protect yourself from the virus. Requiring virus testing when the global infrastructure to perform testing doesn’t exist will strain the travel economy further without addressing the problem at hand.” Kerby also recommended that “the CDC should communicate its list of exempted destinations so that travel advisors and consumers can make informed decisions regarding their travel plans.”

U.S. Travel Association

On Jan. 12, U.S. Travel Association’s executive vice president of public affairs and policy, Tori Emerson Barnes, responded in a statement to the CDC’s announcement from earlier that day. Barnes expressed appreciation for the announcement and said, “A testing requirement provides yet another layer of safety for international travel, and should be accompanied by other risk-based policies – including lifting international inbound travel restrictions and dropping any post-arrival quarantine requirements.” Barnes explained how it made sense to lift international travel restrictions and quarantine requirements and said, “with an international testing requirement in place, international visitors and returning residents would be tested at much higher rates than the general public and pose a much lower risk of transmitting the disease.” Barnes optimistically ended the statement and said, “With a risk-layered approach to health and safety throughout every aspect of travel, it’s possible to both protect public health and allow travel to safely resume.”

Travel Advisors

In a recent TravelPulse article, travel advisors shared their thoughts on the new rule too. Vacations Inc’s Ryan Doncsecz referred to the CDC’s latest rule as a “major hurdle to travel agencies.” When talking about saving the travel industry, Doncsecz said, “the CDC has now called out the tourism boards from other countries to help initiate a plan on how to help effectively roll out testing in these destinations that already may face difficulty in administering and processing tests.” Doncsecz added, “hopefully our resort partners will see the need to offer an in-destination test also.”

Internova Travel Group’s CEO, J.D. O’Hara, mirrored U.S. Travel Association’s statement and said, “A collaborative approach with clear and transparent communication between government and airlines, hotels, destinations and travel advisors is essential as we continue to work together towards the safe return of travel.”

Chad Shields of Engage Vacations shared many valid and workable ideas around this newest setback in the latest Beth’s Buzz article. Another successful travel advisor, Sarah Klein, added “On a brighter note, when we all finally come through this, it is a travel advisor’s time to shine. All those people who didn’t give us a second thought and booked online, shopped us and booked themselves or choose an Airbnb instead of a rated hotel, best of luck. We will now be valued and trusted as a source that can fix problems, provide guidance and fight for them. On the other side, it will be a Renaissance for the travel agent.”

The CDC’s new rule isn’t ending all of 2021 travel plans, but the order seriously complicates planning. Tell us how you’re responding to this in the comments below!