It’s a welcome turn for a global tourism economy that’s been hammered by COVID-19, and a bright note for those looking for signs of the pandemic’s end.
data — that welcome any U.S. traveler without restrictions. Of the 109 destinations that still require testing, quarantines, or both for unvaccinated travelers, 17 don’t allow U.S. tourism anyway.
“The world increasingly wants to move past this point where COVID is overpowering our daily lives with everything we’re doing,” says Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Aside from mainland China, which remains off-limits for tourists, the U.S., the Philippines and Indonesia are now the world’s only major tourist markets whose borders are fully shut to unvaccinated visitors, barring age or health-related exceptions.
Having a vaccine is, of course, still the safest and smoothest way to see the world. It opens American passports to a potential 190 stamps without any testing complications. Phocuswright projects that China’s travel market won’t return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024. Still, Fadnis said Southeast Asia is “showing a good pace of recovery,” while Japan’s reopening would “provide a boost to the region.”
Client bookings have doubled compared to 2019 levels, says Geller. And now that Japan has reopened, he’s seeing pent-up demand to visit Asia in general. “Clients will call me saying, ‘I heard Japan is opening up; what do you think about a trip to Vietnam?’” he says.