COVID tips

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A cruise operator that failed to cancel a voyage from Sydney that led to a major COVID-19 outbreak was ruled negligent in its duty of care to passengers in an Australian class-action case Wednesday.

Carnival Corp’s Australian unit has been ordered to pay the medical expenses of a woman who contracted Covid-19, with a judge ruling that the cruise ship operator misled passengers about safety risks in a landmark class action ruling.

China, grappling with a new wave of COVID-19 infections, took another step towards loosening its pandemic-related restrictions on Saturday when Hong Kong‘s leader announced it would aim to re-open its borders with the mainland by mid-January.

Southwest’s Meltdown Should Be a Technology Warning for Airlines: Instead of heeding employee concerns, Southwest focused primarily on tech for customers, leading to a worst-case example of what can happen when modernizing operations is not a priority. May other airlines learn from Southwest’s mistake.

The United States will impose mandatory COVID-19 tests on travelers from China, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday, joining India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan in taking new measures after Beijing’s decision to lift stringent zero-COVID policies.

Both the Middle East and Europe are on track to reach their pre-pandemic levels in 2023 , according to the UN World Tourism Organization. Last year saw a stronger than expected recovery for the global tourism economy.

Ethiopia’s tourism sector has been hit hard in the last two years by Covid and a brutal civil war, with spending down by more than $2 billion. The tourist sites and infrastructure have been spared, but the sector doesn’t have the confidence of governments, travelers and tour group operators that the conflict is over and the country is a safe destination.

With the end of Covid-19 restrictions, the number of passengers at Aena’s airports gradually recovered last year, approaching pre-pandemic levels in December and surpassing them in January 2023.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday revoked requirements that most international visitors to the United States be vaccinated against COVID-19 as well as similar rules for federal employees and contractors.

International leisure flight bookings from India have increased by 40 percent for trips between June and August compared to the same period in 2022, according to travel solutions provider RateGain. In its latest Pulse report powered by Adara, RateGain said this represents the highest level of outbound leisure flight bookings from India in the post-Covid years, even as demand is still 15-20 percent lower than highs in 2019.

More than 5.2 million international visitors came to the U.S. in March, representing 83% of its pre-pandemic level and up 62% from March 2022, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office’s latest data. International visitor volume also exceeded 80% of its pre-pandemic level in February.

Our newly released U.S. Travel Tracker: Q2 2023 Highlights report highlights a reversal of Covid-related changes in the travel landscape. Solo trips have decreased, and travel to urban centers has rebounded.

Demand for travel is high and rates are even higher – an average of $1,600 per night for hotel bookings during 2023/24 festive season. Happy (but stressed) travel advisors and suppliers are delighted to see you swarming back, often in record numbers. The only challenge is meeting your expectations, something that has never been more difficult. Fifty-seven percent of you say, “Creating a travel experience that best fits my expectations is more important than price.” Making sure you have a bon voyage these days takes more time and creativity, even if it’s often hidden behind those smiles. Welcome to the post-Covid travel industry.

For many travel operators, the climate crisis may be an opportunity for growth, as bookings can be taken for longer throughout the year and newer (cooler) destinations become more attractive. It will also enable tourists to avoid Covid-style lockdowns where they may be forced to stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day across Europe, as has been the case for holidaymakers and residents throughout July and August in the northern hemisphere.

Anyone who had plans to fly at the start of 2020 will remember the travel nightmare that began that March when the spread of Covid-19 left a barrage of canceled and disrupted flights. 

A negative COVID-19 test is now required for international flights into the U.S., but are domestic flights next? In an interview with Axios on HBO, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that there is currently an “active conversation” between the Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on requiring coronavirus testing for domestic flights, that is being guided “by data, by science, by medicine, and by the input of the people who are actually going to have to carry this out.”

How much of a hit has air travel taken during the COVID-19 pandemic? The short answer: Like nothing anyone has seen before. Even airline experts with long memories can’t remember a comparable impact of some critical event. Yes, 9/11 stopped air travel cold, but the immediate effect lasted weeks, not months. And the nation had a visible system in place—TSA screening—squarely aimed at preventing similar events in the future.

If you’re flying into the U.S. on January 26 or later, you’re going to need proof of a negative COVID-19 test to enter the country, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

I’m sure you’ve all seen the insane immigration lines at the screening 13 airports where passengers waited hours in cattle-like lines, which definitely didn’t follow today’s protocol of social distancing. If I was scheduled to fly home, I would probably wait a few days until airports worked this chaos out.

Planning on traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic? Most airlines and hotels have stepped up their cleaning policies in an effort to help fight the virus. However, if you’re traveling, you should still be sure to do your part. Here’s how to disinfect your airplane seat and your hotel room.

World responses to pandemics—like the U.S.’s to the COVID-19 outbreak—are always a moving target. When it comes to contagious diseases, there are going to be new developments occurring every day. Of late, the 30-day Europe travel ban means that all U.S. citizens returning home from many countries in Europe (plus China and Iran) will be sent to one of 13 U.S. airports designated for screenings and then directed to self quarantine for 14 days.