U.S. officials said, as the situation is still fluid and there are still fears of a resurgence of the virus in countries now reporting lower caseloads.
But Washington is clear on one thing - people from other countries should not be allowed into the United States if Americans still are not allowed to travel to those nations, the senior U.S. official said.
However, with the virus still rampant in the United States, which has the highest number of cases in the world, some countries may be hesitant to accept U.S. travelers any time soon.
The European Union on Wednesday pushed to reopen internal borders and restart travel, but recommended Europe’s external borders remain closed for most travel at least until mid-June.[L8N2CV2U0]
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks through the empty international terminal at LAX airport in Los Angeles, California, U.S., amid reports of the coronavirus, March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
While there has been some talk in the administration of reopening borders to travelers from Europe first, officials are mindful that many of the initial infections in the United States originated in Italy.
“I think coordination between governments is going to be key,” Virginia Messina, managing director with the World Travel and Tourism Council, said. “You are going to need those bilateral agreements.”
When the United States restricted international flight ticket booking from Europe it was effectively a blanket ban. Unwinding that ban and replacing it with agreements with individual European countries could be a much longer process.
Lifting the restrictions will also require a series of choreographed steps by different U.S. government agencies.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Department will need to dial back travel advisories calling for Americans to avoid all international travel before the United States can allow in travelers from restricted countries, according to Lora Ries, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation and former Trump administration homeland security official.
The blanket advisory is likely to be replaced by more country-specific warnings, depending on the state of the pandemic in the relevant countries or region.
Restoring the flow of travelers into the United States could help boost the economy in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak. The Washington-based U.S. Travel Association estimated that spending by international travelers supported 1.2 million U.S. jobs and $33.6 billion in wages in 2019, economic activity that has been wiped out by the pandemic.
But the priority is to restore confidence in U.S. domestic air travel before turning attention to international travel, said Tori Emerson Barnes, an executive vice president with the U.S. Travel Association, a pro-industry nonprofit organization.
“I think that it will be a slow opening, unfortunately,” she said.
But Washington is clear on one thing - people from other countries should not be allowed into the United States if Americans still are not allowed to travel to those nations, the senior U.S. official said.
However, with the virus still rampant in the United States, which has the highest number of cases in the world, some countries may be hesitant to accept U.S. travelers any time soon.
The European Union on Wednesday pushed to reopen internal borders and restart travel, but recommended Europe’s external borders remain closed for most travel at least until mid-June.[L8N2CV2U0]
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks through the empty international terminal at LAX airport in Los Angeles, California, U.S., amid reports of the coronavirus, March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
While there has been some talk in the administration of reopening borders to travelers from Europe first, officials are mindful that many of the initial infections in the United States originated in Italy.
“I think coordination between governments is going to be key,” Virginia Messina, managing director with the World Travel and Tourism Council, said. “You are going to need those bilateral agreements.”
When the United States restricted international flight ticket booking from Europe it was effectively a blanket ban. Unwinding that ban and replacing it with agreements with individual European countries could be a much longer process.
Lifting the restrictions will also require a series of choreographed steps by different U.S. government agencies.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Department will need to dial back travel advisories calling for Americans to avoid all international travel before the United States can allow in travelers from restricted countries, according to Lora Ries, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation and former Trump administration homeland security official.
The blanket advisory is likely to be replaced by more country-specific warnings, depending on the state of the pandemic in the relevant countries or region.
Restoring the flow of travelers into the United States could help boost the economy in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak. The Washington-based U.S. Travel Association estimated that spending by international travelers supported 1.2 million U.S. jobs and $33.6 billion in wages in 2019, economic activity that has been wiped out by the pandemic.
But the priority is to restore confidence in U.S. domestic air travel before turning attention to international travel, said Tori Emerson Barnes, an executive vice president with the U.S. Travel Association, a pro-industry nonprofit organization.
“I think that it will be a slow opening, unfortunately,” she said.
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