I am getting more questions from travelers who have been grounded for the past 18 months wondering if they can safely schedule a fall or winter getaway. First of all, safety something only you can determine for yourself. That said, whether or not to move forward with travel plans depends a lot on the type of vacation experience you are looking for.
Europe is reporting great strides in recovery, with a handful of countries relaxing all Covid-19 restrictions in the coming months, should progress continue. They are also limiting, for the most part, entry from the US to vaccinated travelers only. My advice, if you are considering a trip to Europe this fall is two fold. If your entire travel party is fully vaccinated and otherwise healthy that’s the first step. The second would be to keep your trip to just one country, that includes your flights. When additional countries are added to the itinerary, even if it’s just a layover, things become more complicated.
On the other side of the spectrum are those considering a Caribbean getaway for the holidays or even January 2022. My advice there is completely different, even for fully vaccinated travelers. As I mentioned last week, vaccination rates in these islands is still very low. Restrictions are creeping back in with regards to movement off the resort and the medical facilities are not up to US standards. Of course, you may not need those facilities, but the added influx of tourists, while obviously bringing revenue to the island, are also bringing a heavier load of virus to those who are not yet protected.
Currently nearly 100% of the companies we do business with around the world are requiring that travelers be vaccinated. Until conditions improve and restrictions are lifted on those unvaccinated, I will only be working with clients who are fully vaccinated as well. There are just too many variables otherwise. For instance, just last Thursday I posted an article on our FB page listing the protocols for over 40 European countries. By Friday some had changed, most notably the Netherlands requiring a 10 day quarantine for all travelers from the US, regardless of vaccination status. Well, in the nature of ever changing protocols, that quarantine is being dropped before the end of September for those vaccinated travelers.
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