Industry welcomes new CDC guidance on vaccinated travellers

The US travel industry has welcomed a new public health determination that fully vaccinated people may travel domestically without being subject to Covid-19 tests or mandatory quarantines. The determination comes as part of new travel guidance issued by the CDC on 2 April. However, the CDC adds that vaccinated people should still follow mask- and physical-distancing rules, and wash their hands frequently in order to minimise the risk of transmission. “The CDC’s new travel guidance is a major step in the right direction that is supported by the science and will take the brakes off the industry that has been hardest hit by the fallout of Covid by far,” says US Travel Association chief executive Roger Dow on 2 April. “As travel comes back, US jobs come back.” The Travel Technology Association adds that “Americans are eager to begin travelling again, and this new guidance is an important step towards the recovery of the travel and tourism industry and the broader US economy”. Airline industry executives have said in past weeks that customer demand rebounded in the first quarter as US vaccination efforts got into full swing. Potential travellers are relieving pent-up demand from a year of travel restrictions, and feel more comfortable planning travel, airlines said.<br/>