This Week in Travel – May 8, 2021

If you’re a regular reader of these eclectic weekly roundup posts, you know that we’re a pretty optimistic group here at The Exceptional Traveler.  We’ve reported on the gradually increasing number of destinations that have reopened, showed you how to get there pretty inexpensively and shared some of your experiences as fellow ETs have cautiously ventured out.  We’ve traveled ourselves, to Aruba, and talked about the great time we had there, albeit sprinkled with a few minor inconveniences.

This week’s news and conversations with other travel enthusiasts and professionals are a sobering dose of reality. . .for every positive development, there have been a couple of “yes, but. . .” stories that we encountered.  You’ll see what we mean as you read through, and we’d like to know what you’re thinking:  Please leave a comment at the bottom of this post and let us know how you’re feeling about travel plans for the rest of 2021.

Here’s what we’re talking about. . .

This unwelcome character needs no introduction.  Photo by CDC on Unsplash

 

Just as the US appears to be turning the corner on getting Covid under control, a big part of the rest of the world is reeling.  We’ve all seen the horror stories coming out of India, but similar outbreaks are occurring in neighboring Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and others that threaten any kind of return to normalcy for the entire southern Asia region.  The Seychelles and Maldives, both Indian Ocean island paradises, have some great hotel deals  as well as a welcome policy for fully vaccinated travelers, but they’re both struggling with Covid outbreaks and have imposed restrictions on travelers and residents alike.

Much of Europe seems to be headed in the right direction, and there were several positive developments:

• Greece, already open to fully vaccinated visitors, reopened their restaurants, cafes and bars for outdoor dining on May 3.
• France is planning to reopen to visitors this summer, and a gradual reopening of cafes, restaurants, museums, and other attractions is underway.
• Italy’s Prime Minister announced that he wants to reopen to visitors now, as the country has eased it’s Covid restrictions. But his definition of “now” has waffled between May and July, so it’s hard to tell when that will happen.

But at the same time, the UK made its long-awaited announcement of government-approved countries for travellers (that’s how the Brits spell it!) yesterday, and it’s a pretty short list.  Only twelve countries and territories made the UK’s “green list”, and the US was not one of them.  We’re on their “amber list” (think stoplights here), which means that US visitors will still need to quarantine and test negative multiple times before being allowed to move about freely.  These lists will apparently be reviewed again in three weeks, so the listings will be pretty fluid for the foreseeable future. . .not the sort of situation that makes planning easy.

La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain.  Photo by Sung Jin Cho on Unsplash

 

There’s an upside to this, however. . .only Portugal, Iceland, Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands made the green list in Europe.  This is a big disappointment to places like Malta, Spain, etc., where Brits are the largest group of visitors.  But it’s good news for US visitors from the standpoint of being far less crowded.

There’s still no movement on reopening the US-Canadian border to tourists, much to Air Canada’s chagrin.  I spoke with fellow travel enthusiast Andrew Taylor, a UK native currently living in Vancouver.  Andrew is a seasoned traveler and the founder of www.TheLuxuryWanderer.com, a very interesting website that we highly recommend (also on Instagram @the.luxury.wanderer).  He doesn’t feel that Canada will be reopening until they get 60-70% of their citizens vaccinated.  “I think it will happen, but our vaccination program is slower than yours in the States.  Probably not until September or so.”  He’s especially keen to be able to visit family in England and South Africa that he hasn’t seen in a couple of years.

We also spoke with Pam Keystone, the highly regarded travel advisor and founder of www.TheArtofVacationing.com, who we interviewed back in March.  She’s leading a couple of exclusive group tours later this year:  to Costa Rica in August and Egypt in November.  But she’s not recommending that her clients visit Europe before September, at the earliest.  “There’s too much uncertainty,” Pam told me.  “The EU countries will be open, but to what degree?  Will museums, cathedrals, wineries, and other attractions be open for tours?  Will restaurants be open?  If you can’t go out for a nice dinner, that surely decreases the travel experience.  And restrictions and curfews can change without notice.  I just don’t want to have disappointed clients.”

Norwegian Cruise Line ship, Aruba

 

The cruise industry is looking to finally be opening again this summer, both in the US and Europe.  But they’re facing some challenging tradewinds, too.  For example, Florida’s prohibition on any type of vaccine passport is at odds with the approach of most cruise lines.  At least one line, Norwegian, may avoid Floridian ports of call altogether.  And recently announced CDC restrictions on shore excursions could significantly impact the cruising experience:  If passengers can only disembark to go on (expensive and not very good) cruise line sponsored tours, many cruisers wouldn’t be interested in getting off the ship.  How much fun is that?

Lastly, remember that herd immunity to Covid that we’ve been so looking forward to?  According to much of the scientific community, it’s not going to happen here in the US.  The more contagious new variants have pushed the necessary percentage of people with antibodies from as low as 60% to as high as 95%.  With as high as 30% of our population being anti-vaxxers, it’s doubtful we’ll get there (as of today, about one third of Americans are fully vaccinated).  Listen to this sobering discussion on “The Daily” podcast for a more complete examination.

A HERD of buffalo (get it?).  Photo by Stephen Pedersen on Unsplash

 

So that’s where we are in this week’s travel news.  Check out this CNN article for more info on reopenings, including the comeback of Broadway in September.

Now we’d like to hear from each of you ETs, as mentioned earlier.  Please tell us how you feel about travel through the rest of this year in the comments section below:  Are you planning a trip?  Will it be domestic or international?  Travel by air or car?  What are your major concerns?  We’d love to hear from you.  Thanks for being part of the ET Community!