This week’s Travel Well focuses on COVID-19 related updates from Italy and Mexico. Allan also provides a 2021 travel forecast of what to expect in the coming months.
News From Italy
It is not possible for US citizens to travel to Italy for vacation. Those on more “essential” travel purposes (including students, business people, and those visiting relatives) can travel from the US to Italy but need to quarantine. Recently, it was announced Delta and Alitalia will be offering COVID-19 tests on direct flights from the US to Rome in hopes this will allow people to forgo the quarantine. However, from what we can tell, this has not been approved by the government as a way to eliminate the quarantine nor will it be available for tourists in the near term.
Life in Italy
Curious to know what life is like in Italy now? Or to hear how it was in the early days of the pandemic? We will be conducting a webinar on Wednesday, December 16th at 12:00 PM ET (9:00 AM PT) with our friend and Italian guide Giovanni Ramaccioni. Registration details to come.
Mexico as a Contrast
We have heard many people planning trips to Mexico as if it is a safe haven from the pandemic. It is not. Mexico is on the CDC’s Level 4 warning level for COVID, the highest in effect. However, in contrast with Italy, while non-essential (tourism) travel is closed on the land border, it is perfectly legal to fly to Mexico with no quarantine required. This is perhaps why the CDC recently issued a specific warning not to travel to Mexico and why the World Health Organization Director-General said “Mexico is in bad shape”.
My Take: Travel Recommendations for 2021
I created this simple chart to summarize our travel recommendations for 2021. Keep in mind this is just an educated guess at this point, so things can and will change.
