Further ‘Discussions to be Had’ Before White House Lifts More Travel Restrictions

Momentum is slowing for the continued reopening of international travel in the U.S.

According to a report in Reuters, the White House will not immediately lift more international travel restrictions, despite a push from U.S. business groups and lawmakers.

Reuters, in an article published on Thursday, quotes an administration official as saying that while interagency groups started meeting in June to discuss a further reopening, including restrictions with Europe, the U.K., Canada, and Mexico, there are no plans to do so right now.

“While these groups have met a number of times, there are further discussions to be had before we can announce any next steps on travel reopening with any country,” the official said according to Reuters.

The hesitancy is reportedly a desire from the White House to ensure a deliberate move and to be able to sustain a continued international travel reopening.

Industry groups continue their push
Despite the reports, a group of 24 trade organizations is continuing its urgent calls for the federal government to immediately set a strategy for reopening international travel to the United States—starting with countries with strong vaccination records—in order for the travel industry to rebound.

The coalition, including the U.S. Travel Association, American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), and Airlines for America, among others, on Wednesday, released a policy blueprint for reopening borders safely.

The “Framework to Safely Lift Entry Restrictions and Restart International Travel” identifies policies for finally welcoming international visitors back to the United States while maintaining health and safety.

“The travel industry agrees that being guided by the science is absolutely the correct approach, and the science has been telling us for some time that it’s possible to begin to safely reopen international travel,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow.

“Our document continues to prioritize safety while providing a roadmap for solving for the billions of dollars in economic damage resulting from the continued restrictions on crossing our borders, in particular from allied countries with similar vaccination rates. We have the knowledge and the tools we need to restart international travel safely, and it is past time that we use them.”

According to U.S. Travel, for each week that travel restrictions remain in place, the U.S. economy is losing $1.5 billion in spending just from Canada, the European Union, and the U.K.—enough money to support 10,000 American jobs.

Some of the guidelines in the policy framework include reserving entry restrictions for only the highest-risk countries and replacing all other blanket travel restrictions with a framework of entry protocols based on a country-by-country and individual traveler risk assessment.

The blueprint urges the federal government to quickly lift entry restrictions and reopen travel between the U.S. and the U.K., given the two countries’ similar vaccination records. Research from the Mayo Clinic shows the risk of a person infected with COVID-19 boarding a flight from the U.K. to the U.S. is 1 out of 10,000. The same research shows that the risk of an infected passenger transmitting the virus to another passenger flying from the U.K. to the U.S. is even lower, at 1 out of 1 million passengers.

It also calls for expedited entry into the U.S. for fully vaccinated individuals from non-high-risk countries and easing entry restrictions by July 15, 2021, when the U.S. is forecasted to achieve widespread immunity and sustained declines in infections and hospitalizations.

“Restrictions on international travel are no longer what is protecting us from outbreaks of the virus,” Dow said. “In that vein, the travel industry continues to urge everyone who is eligible to receive a vaccine—they have been effective beyond expectation, and they are what is going to allow our lives to go fully back to normal and put this pandemic in the rearview mirror for good.”