Travel Advisors Continue Push for Removal of U.S.’s Inbound Testing Requirement
经过丹尼尔·麦卡锡(Daniel McCarthy)/
The United States remains one of the last major countries to impose an inbound testing requirement for travelers entering the country—Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, and more have all axed their inbound testing rules.
尽管美国人继续旅行,但国际旅行通常是旅行顾问最有利可图的旅行,而旅行行业内部的人们越来越想知道何时会提出要求。
阻力是显示在TSA乘客volume-the last five days, for instance, have all seen checkpoint numbers somewhere between 11% and 18% compared to 2019 levels—and in air tickets sold by travel agencies and OTAs—ARC’s leisure ticket rolling average for the last 52-weeks is 26.4% below 2019 levels.
它也显示出入站利益。根据最近由美国旅行协会午其化进行的调查,来自法国,德国,英国,韩国,日本和印度的全面接种疫苗的国际旅行者因要求而选择不前往美国。
调查发现,超过一半的旅行者(54%)的旅行决定受到与美国的exp前前测试要求相关的不确定性的影响。它还发现,一半的受访者说,由于出发前的测试要求(47%),他们在未来12个月内不太可能在国外旅行。
Travel Advisors talk impact
美国旅行顾问学会(ASTA),which has called the requirement the “biggest barrier” to the industry’s full recovery, has been one of the strongest voices against the requirement, as have its members, and other advisors who aren’t members.
华盛顿特区Travelwise International的团队首席经理兼豪华旅行顾问Keisha Adriano本周对TMR表示:“入站测试要求仍然是旅行者的主要威慑力量之一,不确定性影响了旅行需求。”
“People are already anxious about rising costs and inflation, and now are second-guessing trips, fearing that it may cost them more than first expected. Revenge travel is here, but really targeted to households who can absorb additional expenses,” she said.
阿德里亚诺(Adriano)说,一位旅行社的客户在瑞士呆了10天,然后在准备回家时测试阳性。
“他们的最初反应是震惊和恐惧,但是通过在整个过程中与他们合作并传达他们的担忧,我们能够尽快将它们带回家。旅行的复杂性可能令人不安,我们对客户非常支持,敏捷和适应所有情况。”她说。
根据阿德里亚诺(Adriano)的说法,旅行不会完全恢复,直到撤销该测试规则,旅行者可以重新获得信心和保证,即他们能够毫不拖延地返回美国。
Jill Labare, vice president of business development with Oasis Travel Network, also told TMR that clients are hesitant to leave the U.S. by plane because of “fear they can’t return as planned or need to incur additional expenses” and that from her perspective, the testing requirements are nonsensical.
“返回美国的航空旅行是唯一需要测试的运输方式,这是没有意义的。您可以在没有测试的情况下从加拿大和墨西哥开车进入美国。您可以在不回程测试的情况下退出美国并返回。为什么要测试您是否正在空中返回?”她说。
要求“抑制旅行,并对主要是小型企业主的旅行顾问产生负面影响。Labare补充说,除了客户愿意在美国以外的情况下旅行时,除了额外的工作外,这也给旅行顾问带来了很大的压力。”
Ted Blank, a Travel Leaders Network agency owner, told TMR that he had just got back from a river cruise on the Rhine and had to deal with the test himself.
“It was quick and easy and actually was free in Switzerland, which was a surprise,” he said. “But the amount of angst and stress it caused to the other travelers was real. I’m pretty sanguine about it myself, I’ve lost track of how many travel-related COVID tests I’ve had,’ he said.
Blank described how the test “was the main topic of conversation for a few days beforehand, and I think everyone had a lurking sense of foreboding about it.”
“它肯定会对预订和未来计划产生影响。我认为许多人奇怪地乐观地说它很快就会被取消,并在旅行扳机之前等待它。这对今年春季和夏季的欧洲旅行产生了重大的负面影响。”他补充说。
Barbara Khan, owners of Journeys by the Book – ProTravel Inc., told TMR that she still has clients who do not want to leave the U.S. due to the return testing requirements.
“我刚刚有一个3个成年人的家庭,他们认为测试取决于您要回来的国家。当我解释这是美国要求的时(也许是唯一剩下的国家!),他们决定他们需要留在美国,USVI和PR。他们刚毕业的儿子正在开始新的工作,如果他肯定的话,他就不会错过第一天。”她说。
How can you help?
总部位于美国的旅行顾问可以帮助继续提高人们对测试要求的认识,而且还可以通过写信给当地媒体来影响其业务。
ASTA has put together a Letter to the Editor Inbound Testing campaign,这使旅行顾问可以轻松地向当地媒体发送消息。会员可以简单地填写他们的信息,并发送预先编写的消息,解释要求如何将业务影响到本地媒体。
Some ASTA members have already gotten coverage,including in Connecticut with Amanda Klimak of Largay Travel in Waterbury。
ASTA还为当地代表们开展了类似的信函撰写运动。该工具的构建方式与媒体相同,因此很容易就入站测试如何阻碍业务写信给议员。