Restrictions on tourism travel ease cautiously
Travel Biz News —
The world is slowly opening up with destinations cautiously easing travel restrictions introduced in response to COVID-19.
According to new research of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 7 destinations have eased travel restrictions for international tourism purposes and several more destinations are engaged in significant discussions about the re-opening of borders.
As the UNWTO released its Global Guidelines for Reopening Tourism, signaling a transition into gearing up for stronger and better recovery, 3 per cent of all global destinations have now taken steps to ease travel restrictions.
UNWTO has been monitoring the global response to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. The fourth edition of its COVID-19 Related Travel Restrictions: A Global Review for Tourism report, released today, again looked at the measures of 217 destinations worldwide as of 18 May 2020.
The report notes that 100 per cent of all destinations worldwide continue to have some form of COVID-19-related travel restrictions in place.
Furthermore, as of 18 May 75 per cent continued to have their borders completely closed for international tourism. In 37 per cent of all cases, travel restrictions have been in place for 10 weeks, while 24 per cent of global destinations have had restrictions in place for 14 weeks or more.
In the case of SIDS destinations (Small Island Developing States), 85 per cent continue to have their borders completely closed for tourism purposes.
All UNWTO regions have more than 65 per cent of their destinations completely closed to tourism: Africa (74%), Americas (86%), Asia and the Pacific (67%), Europe (74%) and the Middle East (69%).
The report also breaks down the level and type of travel restrictions in place, including prevalence of flight suspensions and measures including compulsory self-isolation and quarantine of tourist arrivals.
June 1 , 2020
Image: People wearing protective face masks against the spread of coronavirus, walk at the iconic 15th century Grand Bazaar in Istanbul as it reopens, June 1, 2020, following weeks of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
