Major Travel Groups Call For End To Travel Restrictions

Above, the federal airline mask mandate doesn't come up for debate until March 18. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidance. Travel groups, with the guidance as a roadmap, are asking the Biden Administration to end travel restrictions and regulations.

But will they listen?

TravelPulse posted:

Major travel-related agencies are calling on the Biden Administration to end COVID-19 restrictions and regulations that inhibit the near $2 trillion U.S. tourism industry.

The move comes just a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance that relaxes many of the policies enacted in the wake of the virus. The new guidance drops restrictions for 70 percent of the country.

But not on airplanes.

The federal mask mandate doesn’t come up for debate again until March 18 but the U.S. Travel Association, the American Hotel and Lodging Association, Airlines for America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are asking to rescind mask-wearing and several other key restrictions.

The group sent a letter to White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients that urges the Biden administration to replace pandemic-era travel advisories, requirements and restrictions with endemic-focused policies that enable travel to resume fully and safely and the American economy to accelerate its recovery.

The groups cited key figures to back their request, noting that business travel spending was approximately 50 percent below 2019 levels, and international travel spending was down a staggering 78 percent compared to 2019.

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