What will travel look like post COVID-19

[npcl]

Many seem to assume that once we get beyond COVID-19 either because of a vaccine, or to it eventually burning itself out (even if it takes a few years) that travel will go back to what it was.

 

Yet we are seeing more and more stories about major tourist destinations talking about changing the model for tourism.  The Pre-COVID tourism models developed over time, in many ways like the cooking lobster situation where just like putting a lobster in cold water and raising the temperature gradually it doesn;t notice the impact until it is too late.  For many tourist destinations the growth was also gradual and did not raise alarms until the locals were pretty much cooked as well.

 

With the outbreak many of these areas have seen the quality of life without tourists.  While many have been financially impacted and there is a desire to restart some tourism, there are also many that have now seen the negative impacts of uncontrolled tourism.  The following are just a few examples of the many articles on the subject.

 

The following is a quote from an article from the Caribbean Council.

There is also much to be considered in relation to the cruise lines, the need first to stimulate employment-generating long-stay land-based tourism, and the still missing regional response to the cruise company’s divisive approach to destinations.

 

From an article about Santorini

 

Vamvakousis says he is optimistic that busy days will once again return, but believes the enforced downturn will help prompt a reevaluation of the island's future.

"Santorini is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but I am sure that lockdown was helpful," he says. "It stopped the machine that just created money and did not care about the environment. Now it is the right time to think what was wrong with Santorini. We have the right to protect, but we don't have the right to destroy."

 

Prague

For the last 5 years, Prague has battled with over-tourism; residents were pushed out in favour of more profitable Airbnb rentals and the Old Town started to lose its identity to growing commercialisation and drunk revellers. The city needed drastic change, and coronavirus has provided it with a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” in the words of its mayor, to transform its relationship with tourism. Longer stays and the city’s historical importance are to be promoted; in an effort to shift the culture away from drinking and towards that of the Czech nation. 

 

Venice

This has come into sharp focus in the months-long Covid-19 breathing space, when the sudden emptying of the city restored a lost tranquility, along with fish, swans and cormorants to canals no longer churned by excessive traffic. Most of all, it ignited the hope that this difficult moment for the world could eventually offer a turning point.

The need in Venice, and in so many other destinations, is for a new tourism, one that also benefits residents – not one organised around speculators, landlords, and traveller’s demands. We visitors must see tourism less as an unquestionable entitlement and more as a part of our responsibility to sustain life on Earth. This must ultimately include limiting tourist numbers

[getting older slowly]

Interesting......

 

I wonder if we could see a reduction in oversea travel.... and rise local tourism...

 

Overall I feel would be a good thing.... the one thing this has shown......  

 

The mass moment of people particularly by air travel.. have spread this all over the world in a short space of time..

 

Years ago it would have taken ages for a disease to spread like this....

 

Cheers Don 

[chipmaster]

The richer have never been richer and they have a desire for worldly experiences, they will be catered at resorts, and the must be visited places.

 

Everywhere is suffering and the easiest money also the most dangerous, so we'll see that fine line between fear and greed everywhere.

 

The recent Beijing outbreak is now being blamed on European strain which will reinforce that travel and it's restriction will severe for a while, how it returns is any ones guess, except for some wild places in the wild west, LOL

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, npcl said:

With the outbreak many of these areas have seen the quality of life without tourists.  While many have been financially impacted and there is a desire to restart some tourism, there are also many that have now seen the negative impacts of uncontrolled tourism.  The following are just a few examples of the many articles on the subject.

Money is King. And most of this localities have businesses and employees and economies that are reliant upon tourism. The fat cats on the hill can sit in their fancy houses and lament that it is better without the tourist, but the bottom line is that everything that supports them from an infrastructure perspective is based on having revenue from the tourists. Same is true of many places across the US. Businesses (all businesses... even cruise lines) have to reopen to employ the people who make a living from tourism. 

[Porky55]

Hearing it referred to as the “New Normal” - prepare for it everyone, it’s coming!!!! - to a ship, resort, airline, country near you in 2021/22/23 🤔

[voljeep]

I'm making another small payment today for a cruise at the end of November this year

 

If it goes, we're gonna be on it to experience what cruising is like and what it may become... if it doesn't go, well, we're gambling that Princess offers double amount paid ( prior to final ) FCC for a cruise we've got booked 12/21 on the Discovery Princess.

 

final payment is now due at the end of September, so hopefully if Princess does cancel, it will be before then.

 

small $$$ , "gaming the system" ... let it ride 

[muffydawg]

Well count me out of traveling to Aruba. Been there on a few cruises but no more. They want your DNA as a condition of arrival by air, to do WUT..  "study you" like a lab rat? No thanks. 

 

"Obligatory PCR testing of ALL arriving passengers (except for those who have previously submitted proof of a PCR test)  and a mandatory 24-hour quarantine at the traveler’s accommodation while awaiting test results." 

 

https://www.visitaruba.com/news/general/corona-virus-and-travel-to-aruba/#newtravelrequirements

[skynight]

I imagine that cruise lines will return to pretty much as they have developed over the many decades of operation. Believe most of the popular ports of call will welcome the visits and the income that these visits generate. There could be a time that you will be required either by the lines, ports or both to have proof of certain vaccinations, such as COVID-19 and maybe others like the annual flu vaccines, noro if a vaccine is ever developed, to board the ship. There may be some ports where cruise ship visits are a small percentage of their economies These ports might limit cruise ship visits. 

[npcl]

Here is an article about Amsterdam which deals with the topic

 

Amsterdam After Coronavirus: No More Cannabis, Sex And Mass Tourism, Citizens Demand

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2020/06/21/amsterdam-after-coronavirus-no-more-drugs-sex-and-mass-tourism-/#7ae20c142768

 

Now that as most of the rest of Europe, the Netherlands reopens from months of restrictions, many in Amsterdam want to make sure that the city says “good riddance to mass tourism” and reverts to the numbers of visitors as they were around 2014, before the situation spun out of control from low-fare flights, Airbnb and budget tours.

 

The main goal of the citizens’ demand is to force measures that effectively will limit the number of visitors to 12 million overnight per year, considered “the manageable levels of 2014.”

 

Among the proposed changes, the motion calling for the return of Amsterdam to its residents includes:

The establishment of “cannabis passes,” which already exist in other parts of the country. The city’s mayor had already announced her intention to cut down the number of coffeeshops selling marijuana and a “clean up” of the red light district.

Banning of foreign visitors from buying drugs, which is also a measure already in practice in some of the country’s southern provinces.

A total or partial ban on holiday rentals and of extensions in current hotels.

A new increase of the tourist tax and reassessing it every six months.

The creation of a new “councillor for tourism and quality of life” office dedicated to maintaining the cap on overnight visitors and proposing measures to improve conditions for residents.

Using extra proceeds from the tax to counteract tourism problems and improve the quality of life for locals.

[portiemom]

4 hours ago, muffydawg said:

Well count me out of traveling to Aruba. Been there on a few cruises but no more. They want your DNA as a condition of arrival by air, to do WUT..  "study you" like a lab rat? No thanks. 

 

"Obligatory PCR testing of ALL arriving passengers (except for those who have previously submitted proof of a PCR test)  and a mandatory 24-hour quarantine at the traveler’s accommodation while awaiting test results." 

 

https://www.visitaruba.com/news/general/corona-virus-and-travel-to-aruba/#newtravelrequirements

The PCR test is used to amplify the genome of the virus, which is RNA (not DNA) in the case of the coronavirus. The swab test I'm sure you've heard about where they put a long Q-tip up the person's nose or in their mouth to collect a specimen is an example of a PCR test. They're not studying you but rather testing for the presence of coronavirus.

[muffydawg]

19 hours ago, npcl said:

Many seem to assume that once we get beyond COVID-19 either because of a vaccine, or to it eventually burning itself out (even if it takes a few years) that travel will go back to what it was.

 

Yet we are seeing more and more stories about major tourist destinations talking about changing the model for tourism.  The Pre-COVID tourism models developed over time, in many ways like the cooking lobster situation where just like putting a lobster in cold water and raising the temperature gradually it doesn;t notice the impact until it is too late.  For many tourist destinations the growth was also gradual and did not raise alarms until the locals were pretty much cooked as well.

 

With the outbreak many of these areas have seen the quality of life without tourists.  While many have been financially impacted and there is a desire to restart some tourism, there are also many that have now seen the negative impacts of uncontrolled tourism.  The following are just a few examples of the many articles on the subject.

 

The following is a quote from an article from the Caribbean Council.

There is also much to be considered in relation to the cruise lines, the need first to stimulate employment-generating long-stay land-based tourism, and the still missing regional response to the cruise company’s divisive approach to destinations.

 

From an article about Santorini

 

Vamvakousis says he is optimistic that busy days will once again return, but believes the enforced downturn will help prompt a reevaluation of the island's future.

"Santorini is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but I am sure that lockdown was helpful," he says. "It stopped the machine that just created money and did not care about the environment. Now it is the right time to think what was wrong with Santorini. We have the right to protect, but we don't have the right to destroy."

 

Prague

For the last 5 years, Prague has battled with over-tourism; residents were pushed out in favour of more profitable Airbnb rentals and the Old Town started to lose its identity to growing commercialisation and drunk revellers. The city needed drastic change, and coronavirus has provided it with a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” in the words of its mayor, to transform its relationship with tourism. Longer stays and the city’s historical importance are to be promoted; in an effort to shift the culture away from drinking and towards that of the Czech nation. 

 

Venice

This has come into sharp focus in the months-long Covid-19 breathing space, when the sudden emptying of the city restored a lost tranquility, along with fish, swans and cormorants to canals no longer churned by excessive traffic. Most of all, it ignited the hope that this difficult moment for the world could eventually offer a turning point.

The need in Venice, and in so many other destinations, is for a new tourism, one that also benefits residents – not one organised around speculators, landlords, and traveller’s demands. We visitors must see tourism less as an unquestionable entitlement and more as a part of our responsibility to sustain life on Earth. This must ultimately include limiting tourist numbers

Oh, it's about "climate change" ? Lol. 

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, muffydawg said:

Oh, it's about "climate change" ? Lol. 

“Never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis.”  - Niccolo Machiavelli

[npcl]

1 hour ago, muffydawg said:

Oh, it's about "climate change" ? Lol. 

For most its about more traffic than the roads can handle, The locals getting forced out of towns due to residences getting converted to vacation rentals, Scenic areas getting built over by a seemingly never ending string of new hotels and resorts.

 

No one said anything about  climate change, only the need to preserve the areas.

[Eagle_and_hawk]

On 6/22/2020 at 11:44 AM, muffydawg said:

Well count me out of traveling to Aruba. Been there on a few cruises but no more. They want your DNA as a condition of arrival by air, to do WUT..  "study you" like a lab rat? No thanks. 

 

"Obligatory PCR testing of ALL arriving passengers (except for those who have previously submitted proof of a PCR test)  and a mandatory 24-hour quarantine at the traveler’s accommodation while awaiting test results." 

 

https://www.visitaruba.com/news/general/corona-virus-and-travel-to-aruba/#newtravelrequirements

 

I was just doing the math for 1800 passengers getting off a cruise ship. If they can perform a temperature check, and their health interview at the nonstop rate of 10 passengers per minute, that's 600 per hour. Minimum of three hours if they can maintain this schedule with no interruptions, to get everyone off. Of course this is at the airport, so cruise docking might be different.

 

 Visitors who have submitted proof of a negative test during their ED card application will receive a temperature check and health interview by a medical professional, and if cleared, no further testing or 24-hour quarantine will be applicable to them

Edited June 24, 2020 by Eagle_and_hawk

[Daniel A]

There are some places that are now requiring a negative PCR test prior to boarding a plane or entering a location.  They are requiring proof of the negative PCR result.  How does somebody without symptoms get a PCR test and have the proof in hand a day or two after getting the test?  Anybody know?

[PrincessLuver]

On 6/21/2020 at 5:27 PM, getting older slowly said:

 

The mass moment of people particularly by air travel.. have spread this all over the world in a short space of time..

 

Years ago it would have taken ages for a disease to spread like this....

 

Cheers Don 

 

In 1918-1919 the Spanish flu infected 1/3 of the world"s population (500,000,000) and killed an estimated 20,000,000 to 50,000,000 people.  Commercial air service was just in its infancy so it spread pretty far and pretty fast over 100 years ago.

[Earthworm Jim]

2 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

In 1918-1919 the Spanish flu infected 1/3 of the world"s population (500,000,000) and killed an estimated 20,000,000 to 50,000,000 people.  Commercial air service was just in its infancy so it spread pretty far and pretty fast over 100 years ago.

 

True, but there was also a World War going on in 1918, and no doubt soldiers still returning home into 1919. So there was considerably more international travel those years than was the norm for that era.

[getting older slowly]

Good points PrincessLuver and Earthworm Jim.... particularly troop ship cram full of returning solders.......

 

My point was with so much general population travel large distances now a days has increased the spread by them.. compared to years ago when air travel was for a few and the main travel between countries was ship

 

Cheers Don

[caribill]

17 hours ago, Daniel A said:

There are some places that are now requiring a negative PCR test prior to boarding a plane or entering a location.  They are requiring proof of the negative PCR result.  How does somebody without symptoms get a PCR test and have the proof in hand a day or two after getting the test?  Anybody know?

 

Almost impossible in our area. Still not at the "anyone who wants a test can have a test" stage. And if you cannot get the 15-minute test, it can take up to a week to get the results back (sample to lab - results sent to health dept. - health dept. sends results to patient).

 

So when a test must be done within 72 hours of boarding the plane, chances are low you can do it and get the results in time.

[Ombud]

20 hours ago, Daniel A said:

There are some places that are now requiring a negative PCR test prior to boarding a plane or entering a location.  They are requiring proof of the negative PCR result.  How does somebody without symptoms get a PCR test and have the proof in hand a day or two after getting the test?  Anybody know?

You don't need to meet any criteria to get tested here, just go to one of the local drive thru or walk up centers

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

You don't need to meet any criteria to get tested here, just go to one of the local drive thru or walk up centers

And I hope you realize not everybody lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

You don't need to meet any criteria to get tested here, just go to one of the local drive thru or walk up centers

The issue isn't getting a test, its getting a hard copy of the test results immediately.  It almost looks to me that they found another way to keep people out.

[Daniel A]

9 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

And I hope you realize not everybody lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

If you really want a test in New York and Massachusetts, anyone who claims to have been at a recent protest is automatically qualified for the test.

[ontheweb]

1 minute ago, Daniel A said:

If you really want a test in New York and Massachusetts, anyone who claims to have been at a recent protest is automatically qualified for the test.

I would not know where to go locally. The one chain drug store in town has a sign saying testing is not being done in this location. (It does say you can check their website to see where they are testing.)

[PrincessLuver]

4 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Almost impossible in our area. Still not at the "anyone who wants a test can have a test" stage. And if you cannot get the 15-minute test, it can take up to a week to get the results back (sample to lab - results sent to health dept. - health dept. sends results to patient).

 

So when a test must be done within 72 hours of boarding the plane, chances are low you can do it and get the results in time.

 

For Hawaii the test has to be completed within 72 hours before arrival.  However, most travelers will be from West Coast and Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, etc.) and testing should not be a problem.  Also, Hawaii is working out testing  logistics with CVS for a testing and certification travel program.  If not, you will still do a monitored 14 day quarantine or until you have proof of a current COVID-19 negative test upon arrival.