Confidence Grows as Global Travel Resumes

A bit more than two years after Covid-19 first rolled around the world, closing borders, grounding flights and shutting offices, business travelers are taking their most confident steps since, past the pandemic and into a changed world. And most of the world is responding in kind, with border restrictions beginning to melt away, travel suppliers ramping up capacity and some of the vestiges of the pandemic starting to dissipate.

It’s true that some prior hopes proved to be false starts, most notably the rosy late spring of 2021, as Covid-19 vaccines rolled out and case counts fell, but the lethal delta variant loomed. But some experts feel this stretch is different, after the wild early-winter spread of the milder omicron variant in the U.S. and Europe raised immunity levels and outcompeted delta.

Many companies and employees are proceeding as if the situation has changed in 2022. Dozens of Fortune 500 companies set return-to-office dates for March and April, even if it’s less than a five-day per-week experience for most employees. Every U.S. state has dropped indoor mask mandates, and 62 percent of respondents to a March Monmouth University poll opposed reinstituting them, up from 34 percent in September 2021. And about 82 percent of member travel managers and procurement professionals surveyed in February by the Global Business Travel Association indicated their travelers were “willing” or “very willing” to travel for business, up from 64 percent in January and the highest figure the association has recorded.

Travel suppliers are eager to meet the demand, with hoteliers and travel management companies determined to increase staffing and airlines increasing domestic and international capacity. International Air Transport Association director general Willie Walsh last month said in a statement that omicron wasn’t a lingering drag on demand and carriers had “good reason to be optimistic” as border restrictions began to ease.

Most destinations have started to modify the requirements for international travelers to enter, but many remain.

The United States requires all non-U.S. citizens to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before entering, and all arrivals—including vaccinated U.S. citizens—must have proof of a negative test one day before departure or proof of having recovered from Covid within 90 days. Groups including GBTA and travel management company CWT have called for the U.S. government to drop the testing requirement for vaccinated travelers, but as of press time it remains. Masks remain required on airplanes and other forms of public transportation at least through April 18 and some U.S. municipalities may require indoor masking. New York City last month dropped its vaccine requirement for restaurants, although some may choose to require it.

The United Kingdom last month dropped all Covid-related travel restrictions, and international travelers can enter the country regardless of vaccination status and without quarantine.

Restrictions vary among the countries that make up the European Union, but many have eased them in the past few months. France, for example, no longer requires a Covid test for vaccinated travelers to enter, and Germany last month dropped quarantine requirements regardless of country of origin. Some countries, including Denmark and the Netherlands, have dropped all Covid-19 regulations. IATA and other travel groups have called for the removal in Europe of restrictions. Travel in Eastern Europe is complicated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Australia in February dropped restrictions on fully vaccinated inbound international travelers, though some states retain quarantine requirements. Unvaccinated travelers require a valid travel exemption and must quarantine. 

Japan last month began allowing entry to approved international business travelers (though not leisure travelers) who offer proof of a negative Covid test before departure and upon arrival. Vaccinated and boosted travelers can avoid quarantine, others must quarantine seven days, or three with an additional negative Covid test.

Omicron in early April was running rampant in China, which was locking down some metropolitan areas in an effort to contain the virus. The country largely remains closed to international business travelers, with negative-test and quarantine mandatory for the few who are approved.