The US announcement lifting travel restrictions to the country from early November for fully vaccinated foreigners is clearly a welcome news – not only for hard-pressed airlines, but also for the wider travel and tourism industry, which has been decimated by Covid-19.
Travel bans and quarantines have greatly impacted business travel – a decline in global business travel spending for 2021 is forecast at approximately $550bn, with a decline in the US estimated at $192bn due to the ongoing pandemic.
The US Travel Association trade group previously estimated that the country’s restrictions, if they ran to the end of the year, would cost the American economy $325bn.
In early November, the United States will reopen to air travellers from some 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the White House said, easing tough pandemic-related restrictions that started early last year.
This means foreigners entering the United…