The travel trade will play a crucial role in building confidence and understanding of new Covid travel protocols as America reopens, a representative of the US government believes.
Sarah Morgenthau, deputy assistant secretary for travel and tourism at the US Department of Commerce and a senior member of the Biden-Harris administration, told Travel Weekly the administration had worked in close partnership with industry to deliver the new policy which will see international air travel resume on November 8.
And she said travel professionals would be critical in informing and reassuring customers as transatlantic travel reopened.
She said: “Countries around the world, including the United States, have put systems in place to ensure the safety of travellers and to mitigate the spread of pathogens. This has added complexities to the process that professionals can help with. There is also value in working with people familiar with the places and experiences, to get the most out of a trip.”
She added: “Different jurisdictions will have different idiosyncrasies and it will be even more important to have people who know those processes. To have that assist will be very important.”
Speaking at Brand USA’s Travel Week event in London as the US confirmed entry requirements for overseas visitors, Morgenthau added that every effort would be made to give advanced warning of future changes to policy to maintain consumer confidence.
She said: “Of all the things we have learned during the past 18 months, it’s that this virus is very unpredictable. We’ve learnt a lot about how to control it and how to mitigate negative outcomes with vaccines but we know it does mutate.
“We understand that there is a desire to have advanced notice and that’s always a consideration in the decision-making process. Consumers should be confident that their health and safety is a priority for the US government but that we will do everything we can to communicate any changes as early as we can.”
She added: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would not have made these new determinations about welcoming international visitors on November 8 if it did not believe that the science and public health was pointing in the direction of providing for the safety of Americans and all our international visitors.
“That is good news and that will be communicated and will attract more international visitors to come to the United States.”
Chris Thompson, chief executive of Brand USA, said the organisation would continue to communicate any changes to policy at national and regional level and agreed the trade would be central to building confidence.
He said: “There are two things we are legally responsible to – one is promoting the entirety of the destination and the other is to articulate travel policy that is in place or any changes to it as quickly as possible.
“A critically important role will be played by our travel trade partners. Their business is going to be determined on their ability to deliver that information to their clients.”
In addition to acknowledging the importance of industry partners and Brand USA in the reopening process, Morgenthau also paid tribute to US Foreign Commercial Service officers in embassies around the world who she said would be “especially important going into this new period”.