When can international tourism resume? Can international tourism be resumed?

In recent years, due to the impact of the epidemic, international tourism has suffered an unprecedented depression. Tens of millions of tourists are anxious, hoping that the epidemic will dissipate as soon as possible and everyone can travel and shop freely around the world normally. Here is a detailed strategy guide.

What about global tourism?

On March 20th, 20021year, BOCOG announced that it would ban overseas tourists from entering Japan to watch the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held this summer, in order to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 epidemic.

On March 20th, 20021,the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, the Tokyo Organizing Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Japanese Government held a five-party meeting, announcing that overseas tourists were not allowed to enter Japan to watch the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"Because the epidemic situation in Japan and many countries is still very serious, all parties in Japan believe that it is impossible to guarantee the entry of overseas people in summer, including ticket holders of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, so this decision was finally made." Hashimoto Tōru, president of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, said when reading the statement.

The COVID-19 epidemic has undoubtedly disrupted the pace of global tourism. Edirne, the northwestern province of Turkey, borders Bulgaria, and the local border towns have long relied on the business opportunities brought by personnel exchanges between the two countries. However, since the outbreak of the epidemic in Turkey in March last year, tourists are hard to find, the economy has plummeted, and many shops are struggling to support it!

Recently, citizens of Vienna, Austria began to donate vegetables, fruits and other foods to horses in sightseeing carriages, which is also one of the local tourism characteristics. According to reports, affected by the epidemic, Vienna's tourism industry suffered a huge impact, and the sightseeing carriage business, one of Vienna's most distinctive tourism projects, was also deeply affected.

Photo: A duty-free shop in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea, with few passengers. China News Service reporter Ceng Wei photo

In South Korea, the epidemic has caused the number of international tourists to drop by 80%, which has dealt a heavy blow to its domestic duty-free business. The reason is that its duty-free shops rely too much on inbound tourists (according to statistics, foreign consumers spend more than 90% in their duty-free shops). Known as the "goose that lays golden eggs", Korean duty-free shops suffered the first loss in 1 1 years. On March, 2002 1 March1day, two duty-free shops in South Korea will be officially evacuated from the main terminal of Incheon International Airport due to difficulties in maintaining operations.

According to the travel restriction report released by the World Tourism Organization in early March, as of early February of 20021,32% of the destinations in the world have completely closed their international travel services, and there are 69 destinations, of which more than 38 destinations have been closed for at least 40 weeks. At the same time, 34% of the destinations in the world are partially closed to international tourists.

"Open the door to welcome guests"?

Many countries have put forward a timetable for restarting tourism.

2000 became "the worst year in the history of tourism". 202 1, some countries began to explore new ways to break the ice in international tourism.

According to Greek media reports on March 23rd, the Greek Ministry of Culture decided to open the 9 1 Marine Monument to divers for underwater sightseeing and photography. It is understood that these underwater remains will be opened simultaneously after Greece restarts its tourism industry in May 20021year.

Tourism is the main source of income in Greece, accounting for one-fifth of the national economy. However, affected by the epidemic, the number of immigrants dropped sharply last year. The Greek government recently announced the 20021Tourism Recovery Plan, which will "open its doors to welcome guests" on May 14.

Which tourists can enter the country? SofiaZaharaki, Deputy Minister of Tourism of Greece, said that after the tourism industry resumes, Greece will open its doors to these three types of international tourists, who have either been vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine and produced antibodies, or tested negative for the virus.

Thailand is one of the countries most dependent on the development of tourism in the world. According to Thailand's World Journal, Phuket will submit a "Reopening Plan" to the Epidemic Management Center in COVID-19, Thailand on March 26th, hoping to achieve the goal of vacc's entry without quarantine.

According to previous reports, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand plans to open five major tourist areas to foreign tourists in April, including Chiang Mai, Phuket, Krabi, Surat Thani and China Wuli, which are popular tourist areas for international tourists and will take the lead in resuming reception of foreign tourists as a pilot.

In Northern Europe, the Ministry of Health of Iceland announced that starting from March 18, Iceland will allow visitors from countries outside Schengen who have been vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine to enter the country without having to undergo inspection and quarantine in COVID-19. Passengers must show the vaccination certificate certified by the European Medicines Agency, but vaccines from China and Russian are not included.

In addition to Iceland, Seychelles on the east coast of Africa, Belize in Central America, Poland and Estonia in Europe have also begun to provide new guides for travelers, and announced that vaccinated travelers will be exempted from quarantine.

Here comes the "vaccine passport"

Can I leave when I travel internationally?

With the continuous expansion of vaccination coverage in COVID-19 around the world, many countries are considering introducing "vaccine passports" to ease the cross-border flow of people that has almost stopped due to the epidemic and escort the recovery of tourism and economic revitalization.

What is a "vaccine passport"? "Vaccination Passport" is not a real passport, but a document that records information such as vaccination in COVID-19 to prove the vaccination status of cross-border travelers.

From March 22nd to 26th, about 5,000 employees will receive the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Bali International Airport, hoping to welcome international tourists again as soon as possible. China News Agency issued Lu Ye photo

At present, the EU is still determining a number of details to promote vaccine certification, including but not limited to the form, certification scope and validity period of the "vaccine passport". It will take at least three months to implement.

In addition to the European Union, countries such as Russia, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore have also planned or launched "vaccine passports".

However, at present, WHO is cautious about the "vaccine passport". WHO believes that holding a vaccine passport at this stage does not mean that travelers will not be infected with COVID-19 virus.

In addition, the effectiveness of the vaccine has not been specifically verified, especially the virus is still mutating, which leads many people to take a wait-and-see attitude.

It is reported that most countries that actively promote "vaccine passports" are popular international tourist destinations, because "vaccine passports" are regarded as a springboard to revitalize their own tourism.

Can the "vaccine passport" make international travel unimpeded? At present, many countries remain cautious in the case of unstable epidemic situation.

On March 23rd, 200212002, the British Prime Minister warned of the third wave of epidemic. (CCTV news video screenshot)

According to the British "Times" reported on March 23, according to the latest draft regulations published by the British government, starting from the 29th, citizens are not allowed to travel abroad "without justifiable reasons", and offenders will be fined 5,000 pounds. These regulations are valid until June 30th.

The Philippine government announced on the evening of March 16 that in order to curb the rebound of the epidemic, the Philippines will temporarily ban foreign citizens and some overseas Filipinos from entering the country. The ban will take effect on March 20th for one month.

On March 25th, local time, the Argentine government announced that all flights between Mexico, Brazil and Chile would be suspended from the 27th, in order to prevent the COVID-19 mutant strain from spreading in the country. At the same time, the Argentine government will also strengthen the control of Argentines returning from abroad, while continuing to restrict the entry of foreign tourists.

In addition, the time cost of international travel is still high. For example, in Thailand, international tourists must be quarantined for 10 days to ensure safety before they can move freely on the island.

If the countries of these outbound tourists do not relax the prevention and control measures for the immigrants, they will continue to be isolated after returning to China, and the time cost will be higher, which will curb the enthusiasm of tourists for outbound travel.