The travel and tourism industry has been struggling for nearly two years now. The international borders of most countries got shut in March 2020.
Now, many have reopened their borders; however, several countries persist on travel restrictions in fear of new variants such as the fast-spreading Omicron.
Realising the significance of travel and tourism for the world economy, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently insisted countries to lift their international travel bans. In the recent International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on COVID-19, the WHO Chief said that travel restrictions do not add value in countries’ welfare and continue to increase the economic and social stress.
The WHO’s announcement came as a major surprise to many countries as the authorities of various nations believe that they can curb the transmission of the virus through travel restrictions. However, that’s not the case according to WHO.
The Committee also signalled that the travel restrictions are mostly ineffective thus it is better for economies to ease restrictions and let travel and tourism prosper in their respective economies. Also, the organisation quoted that nations should not put a blanket ban on unvaccinated citizens because there is a huge vaccination discrepancy across countries. Thus, emerging economies’ citizens shouldn’t be discriminated while making their travel plans.
There is an additional need of relooking at the travel guidelines. The burden on international tourists should be reduced. RT-PCR tests and other formalities should be put into course based upon the risk assessment.
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Source: © Samwordley | Megapixl.com
This news is significant for countries like Japan and China that are still undergoing strict restrictions against international tourists. Currently, China is still under its strict zero-COVID-19 policy, under which most international travellers are unable to enter China.
As the Omicron transmission skyrocketed, several European, western and eastern countries put travel restrictions in place again. However, that did not help much in reducing the virus spread. Thus, it is clear that tourism is not of any harm, instead it will help the economies build stronger and more resilient frontiers.
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Looking at the coronavirus cases, in mid-January 2022, over 346 million confirmed cases and over 5.5 million deaths were reported worldwide, as per the WHO. The curve has been on a sinusoidal trajectory recently. Moreover, experts believe that the transmission of new variants seems inevitable. So, the most countries can do is to enhance their vaccination drives; that’s the primary and most effective way of battling COVID-19.
SOURCE: KALKINE MEDIA
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