Pressure is mounting on the US government to lift Covid testing restrictions for inbound international travellers.
The American Society of Travel Advisors praised a push by a bipartisan group of 16 members of Congress to exempt vaccinated passengers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s inbound testing order.
The inbound testing rule was imposed in January due to the Omicron variant.
But the group of US politicians has now written to president Joe Biden urging for the testing order to be dropped.
Asta advocacy executive vice president Eben Peck said: “Making the common-sense change these legislators are calling for is widely supported by stakeholders throughout the industry and would match changes our main outbound markets have recently made, including the UK, EU, Canada and Australia.
“It would also supercharge the recovery of the travel agency business, as some of the more than 215 million Americans who have been putting off international travel because of this rule call their travel advisor and get ready to go.”
A nationwide face mask rule for transport in the US is set to expire on April 18.
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, told the Telegraph: “I’m seeing destinations which continue to keep Covid testing measures in place lose traveller market share to other destinations.
“The US is not benefiting from the rebound in travel as much as other countries because of the continuing testing rules for entry.
“It’s now time to remove these excessive and costly rules and live with Covid as most other countries are. It would do wonders for bookings for the US.”