“This policy is guided by public health, stringent, and consistent,” assistant White House press secretary Kevin Munoz wrote on Twitter. The move comes three days after the White House announced late Tuesday it would ease pandemic-related restrictions on overland border crossings from Canada and Mexico.
In September, the Biden administration announced it would lift the ban on vaccinated European travelers and others.
Since the early days of the pandemic, the United States has aimed to curb the viral spread by imposing restrictions on nonessential travel from a slew of countries — including China, Brazil and European states — without any clear metrics for how and when to lift them.
Before the pandemic, travel and tourism represented over 10 percent of the global economy and accounted for 25 percent of all new jobs created across the world. International visitors’ spending amounted to $1.7 trillion in 2019, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. With tourism representing an important share of the global economy, nations have demanded a U.S. reopening for months.
Last year, however, the sector suffered a loss of almost $4.5 trillion worldwide, and 62 million jobs were lost. International visitor spending dropped by 69.4 percent, as arrivals declined globally by 73 percent — the worst year on record, according to the World Tourism Organization. The figures meant massive losses in international revenue for tourism-dependent economies.
In the United States, travel and tourism’s contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product dropped by 3.5 percent — a loss of $766 billion and a 33.2 percent decline in jobs compared with 2019, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
With travel restrictions being lifted, an economic boost in this sector is expected. Already, airlines such as American, Delta and United — which have struggled with profitability — have gained over 2 percent in Friday’s morning trading and 0.4 percent in the S&P 500.