The summer is here, but it is hard to say whether it will be a peak season for the global tourism industry. Under the raging delta mutant virus, the gradual relaxation of epidemic prevention measures in various countries has a tendency to tighten again.
U.S. reissues mask order
On July 28, Beijing time, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it had readjusted the requirements for wearing masks, stating that regardless of whether people have completed the vaccination, they need to wear masks in indoor public places.
Previously, the CDC stated in May this year that people who have completed vaccination do not need to wear masks indoors and outdoors. But now only 2 months later, the CDC has “repented”.
Behind this is the severe epidemic situation in the United States again. Since July, core indicators such as newly confirmed cases, hospitalized cases, and deaths in nearly 90% of the U.S. have rebounded. As of the latest data on July 27, the average number of new cases per day in the United States in seven days exceeded 60,000, reaching 63,248. Among them, the proportion of new cases caused by delta mutant virus is as high as 80%.
This is not surprising. After all, during the relaxation of the “mask order”, Americans who have been at home for more than a year have begun to restart their summer travel plans and “free themselves”.
A reporter from Beijing Business Daily checked the official website of the US Transportation Security Administration and found that on July 26, local time, the number of passengers passing security checks at US domestic airports reached 2.124 million. Although this figure is lower than the 2.613 million in the same period in 2019, it is far better than the 700,000 in the same period in 2020. These data show that the passenger traffic of domestic flights in the United States is gradually picking up recently, and the tourism industry is gradually recovering.
Chinese student Li told the Beijing Business Daily that all flights she took in the United States recently were full. She said that during the summer vacation, many tourist attractions in the United States are quite popular, such as Times Square in New York, Brooklyn Bridge and other famous tourist attractions, and “basically no one wears a mask.”
In addition to the US announced to tighten the “mask order,” other regions around the world have also changed their already relaxed epidemic policies, becoming cautious again.
For example, the situation in Spain took a turn for the worse, with the fifth wave of outbreaks. In order to control the epidemic, the two major regions of Catalonia and Valencia announced the re-imposition of a curfew on July 12, while limiting the number of people gathering in public places. In the northern Autonomous Region of Asturias, dine-in in bars and restaurants is completely banned.
The situation in Greece is not very optimistic. According to Greek health experts, the epidemic will reach its peak in mid-August. By then, the average number of new confirmed cases per day will be approximately 3,400. At the same time, as many people have already set off for tourist destinations, the epidemic in popular tourist destinations has shown a counterattack trend.
On July 27, the South Korean government announced that the anti-epidemic response measures outside the capital area were fully upgraded to the third level until August 8. The South Korean government also recommends that people adjust their summer travel arrangements and postpone their travel until after August.
The tourism industry’s recovery is hindered
The summer vacation was originally the peak of tourism, and governments of various countries also hope to use this period to restart tourism and revitalize the economy. To this end, governments of all countries have introduced relevant policies in advance. According to the regulations of the Spanish government, starting from June 7, travelers from any country and region can enter “unrestricted” as long as they provide proof of vaccination approved by Europe or the WHO.
Greece is also looking forward to resuming tourism. Starting in mid-May, Greece allows foreign tourists with vaccination certificates or negative nucleic acid test certificates to enter; starting in June, museums, beaches and other tourist attractions have been opened successively, and the 6-month epidemic lockdown measures have been ended.
The South Korean government originally launched the “tourism bubble” plan on June 9 and plans to implement it in July. Right now, this plan has been delayed.
Thailand, which relies on tourism, has been hit harder. At the beginning of this month, Thailand, in order to restart the tourism industry as soon as possible to boost the economy, piloted the “Sandbox Program” in Phuket. From July 1st, foreign tourists from low- and medium-risk countries who have completed vaccinations will enter Phuket. , Will not have to accept mandatory quarantine.
A reporter from the Beijing Commercial Daily checked the latest data from the Tourism Administration of Thailand and found that since the launch of the “Sandbox Project” in Phuket, as of July 27, a total of 12,031 people have arrived in Phuket. Between July and September, the number of hotel rooms booked reached 286,000. After being shut down for more than a year due to the epidemic, the tourism industry in Phuket is finally showing signs of slow recovery.
But now, the epidemic in Phuket is re-emerging. In the week ending July 27, a total of 125 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in Phuket, which is close to the highest level in history in April. This number is higher than the government’s threshold of 90 cases per week, which may lead to the suspension of this program.
In fact, in addition to the threshold standard, other conditions for the suspension of the plan include the occurrence of confirmed cases in the three administrative regions of the island and the utilization rate of medical resources reaching 80%. At present, the prudent Thai government is still on the sidelines and has not suspended the “sandbox project.”
An outbound leader of a travel agency told a reporter from Beijing Business Daily that he thought it would be difficult for outbound tourism to fully recover within 2-3 years. He said that at the moment, although the epidemic situation in Asia is better than that in Europe and America, it is possible to partially restart overseas travel, but these destinations will also have European and American tourists, and the flow of people still brings risks. He believes that even if domestic travel agencies gradually resume overseas travel in the future, how many tourists will be willing to participate is yet to be known.
A visa agent told a reporter from Beijing Commercial Daily that at present, she can only apply for Singapore visas for clients. Few of her clients are tourists who travel abroad for the purpose of traveling. Most of them are parents of overseas students visiting their children overseas and real estate developers who want to buy properties. It can be seen that there is no sign of recovery in overseas tourism.
Liao Zhuojun, general manager of Tangshan China International Travel Service Co., Ltd., also believes that outbound tourism will not resume in a short time. She said that the company had predicted at the beginning of this year that outbound tourism would be resumed at the end of this year. However, in the face of the raging delta mutant virus and repeated epidemics abroad, she said that the best situation is to resume outbound tourism next summer.
Beijing Commercial Daily reporter Tao Feng and intern Chen XuzhengReturn to Sohu to see more
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