After months of working from home, turmoil-crazy Americans have finally come to the long, hot summer days only to see their vacation horizons dwindle, with travel options declining as the country’s coronavirus cases soar.
“All I’ve been doing this year is canceling trips,” said Keith Gibbons, 61, with a sigh, a new reality that the government contractor called “very frustrating.”
Most countries now ban American citizens amid a strong resurgence of COVID-19 in the United States. The country’s workload has increased to more than 3.7 million, more than a quarter of the world total, and deaths have reached more than 140,000.
As for travel across the country, it’s not that simple: In the vast United States, the laws on wearing masks and social distancing vary dramatically, and sometimes confusingly, from one jurisdiction to another.
Some states are even imposing quarantines on visitors. Hawaii, for example, ordered those arriving in the Pacific archipelago to be quarantined for 14 days.
Its governor, David Ige, announced Thursday that beginning September 1, visitors will also be required to undergo a coronavirus test within 72 hours of leaving for the state and present evidence of a negative result upon arrival in Hawaii.
Meanwhile, New York has expanded its list of U.S. states, a total of 22 now, whose citizens will have to self-quarantine after arriving in the Northeast state.
And in the city of Chicago, visitors from 17 states must self-isolate for two weeks, or face fines of up to $ 500 per day.
To complicate many Americans’ travel plans, Florida and California’s summer destinations are among the hardest hit by COVID-19, even if the popular Disney World park in Orlando, Florida has been partially reopened and a linked shopping district Disney in California reopened earlier this month.
As for ocean cruises, a very popular travel option in normal years, they are still prohibited by a “Federal Banning Order” until September.
– “He doesn’t seem wise” –
At this point, Gibbons said, “It doesn’t seem wise to go anywhere, either because of the local health situation or because hotels and other establishments are taking steps to deal with COVID in a way that makes the trip less interesting.” .
So if you “want to go to a good hotel on the weekend but the restaurants are closed, the pool is closed, services are limited, it doesn’t sound like much fun.”
A 40-year-old neurologist in Washington, Saher Rizvi was supposed to leave in early July for a 10-day vacation to Monaco with her husband and two children, ages five and seven. The trip had to be canceled.
Today, he draws a sharp red line: his family will not be traveling by plane or train.
“I don’t think it’s safe,” said Rizvi, who as a doctor has closely followed the evolution of the pandemic.
While some people may have to travel by plane or train for major professional purposes or for family emergencies, “for pleasure, it appears that the risk / benefit does not appear to be worth it,” Rizvi said.
Instead, her husband had been trying to persuade her to rent a recreational vehicle for a road trip, but she has her doubts.
“From a vacation in Monaco to the RV, well,” he laughed, making it clear that the appeal of traveling in a compact campervan was not compatible with the level of luxury he expected from a hotel overlooking the Mediterranean.
Summer vacations have long been a staple for Americans. This year has not been kind to them.
The recent surge in COVID-19 infections, along with the devastating blow to the economy and jobs, has dramatically affected travel plans, according to the US Travel Association (USTA): bookings for future bookings aircraft and hotels fell a sharp 73 percent year-over-year in early July.
A recent survey by the Longwoods International research institute found that 76 percent of Americans were prepared to change their travel plans over the next six months due to the pandemic. In fact, 45 percent have already canceled their plans.
“I can’t complain,” said Gibbons. “Many people have lost their lives or are sick; others lost their jobs. So I am lucky that I still have a job and I have to make these decisions.”
At this point, Gibbons has successively canceled planned trips to Florida, Delaware, and Portugal.
The USTA, which represents the hotel, restaurant, leisure and air travel sectors, said that most Americans now plan to travel by car and stay relatively close to home, even if some resistant souls risk traveling to national parks.
Result: Expenditure on domestic travel is expected to decrease by 40 percent, this year it will not be a holiday for the travel and leisure sectors.
