Head at Travelpayouts, the largest affiliate marketing network focused on the travel market.
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Over the last few months, travel-related search queries have skyrocketed, according to Google data. People worldwide are eager to travel, but because the Covid-19 pandemic is still not over, it’s difficult to understand where and how they can go. Information is often inconsistent, while trust in the data released by official institutions is at its lowest levels in recent years. Still, travel companies depend on people actively traveling, and as such, they need to help inform their customers themselves.
The global pandemic led to massive lockdowns, but restrictions have differed from country to country. There are already countries that are fully reopening, while some U.S. states are gradually removing restrictions and other places that remain closed.
For example, the Recovery Index calculated by Skift provides a real-time measure of the performance of the travel industry in 22 countries. The current index score (at time of writing) is 58 points, and in April 2019, it was at 100 points. So, travelers can’t just go to any place they want without analyzing tons of data on entry requirements, possible quarantines, local lockdowns and so on.
All of this makes it difficult for travelers to get a clear understanding of their options: whether they can go to a specific place, what terms and conditions they need to meet to be allowed in, which restrictions are still in place, etc. Oftentimes, information that’s posted online may be irrelevant, outdated or wrong. For example, a travel blogger posting in English may be a citizen of a country whose citizens are allowed to a specific place, while their followers may be from other regions and for whom other terms of entry apply.
Global organizations including WHO and the EU are trying to keep up with changes by releasing digital solutions such as Re-open EU to provide more information on…