ASTA to White House: Drop COVID test for inbound travel

ASTA has asked the White House to eliminate the CDC's Covid-19 testing requirements for fully vaccinated inbound travelers.

In a Feb. 1 letter to Jeffrey Zients, the Biden administration's Covid-19 recovery team coordinator, ASTA CEO Zane Kerby said that inbound testing is "the single biggest barrier to the full recovery of our international travel system on which so many of our members, and their clients, rely for their livelihoods."

Kerby said in the letter that ASTA understands "the rationale behind the inbound testing order." However, he also argued that it has created a number of challenges to travel advisors and their clients, including testing availability, potential disruption to their return plans and "financial and psychological burdens" if they cannot return home.

It has also caused "a general chilling effect on international travel bookings," Kerby wrote, heightened by the testing window's shortening to 24 hours.

In addition to the CDC's guidance that vaccination is the best way to quell Covid's spread, Kerby said eliminating the testing requirement could spur some who remain unvaccinated to get the vaccine. He also pointed to other countries relaxing restrictions, like pre-departure test requirements for fully vaccinated individuals.

"To be clear, we do not as a general matter believe that vaccination should be a prerequisite to international travel," Kerby said. "That said, we do believe a balance needs to be struck in terms of protecting public health without crippling the free flow of commerce and individuals across international borders."

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Source: Travel Weekly

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