Travel experts have told us where we’ll be on vacation in 2021: Traveling has never been safer than now

When we will be able to plan trips and buy tickets and where we will travel in 2021, traveler Rimvydas Širvinskas-Makalius and the president of the National Association of Tourism Companies Žydrė Gavelienė told it at the Delfi rytas show.

Many criteria have been taken into account in the elaboration of the main countries to visit each year, but this year the main criterion is the incidence of the coronavirus. According to Rimvydas Širvinskas-Makalis, now most of the questions for tourists are about safety and requirements to go to the desired country.

“Most travelers must already have a negative coronavirus test, and the Lithuanian government has introduced sufficiently safe requirements to return to isolation within 10 days or to test if isolation is negative.” I believe these rules will continue to apply this year. As unfortunate as it is now, the reality is that we must choose between those countries that allow tourists, not those that we want to see. During the winter, the choice of directions is really limited. Now the most accessible destinations are the Maldives, from Warsaw you can reach Cuba, the Dominican Republic, as well as travelers who go to Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, the resort of Cancun. We are very hopeful that Europe will also open for the spring and summer season, ”he hopes.

According to the traveler, the pandemic has also slightly changed the behavior of tourists, since now many more travelers are asking for advice and recommendations from tour operators or agencies.

“I receive more and more questions from experienced solo travelers on my social networks because the requirements to get to one state or another change very often. When travelers buy a trip from us a month or two ago, we send out several more information letters before departure about the changed requirements. In most cases, these are some relaxed restrictions, ”said R. Širvinskas on the Delfi rytas program.

Although the situation in the world is still quite tense, some people are already planning a future vacation. When asked what time of year it is safest to plan trips and buy tickets this year, R. Širvinskas warns that some people plan trips a month or two in advance, others, much more optimistic, are already thinking about spring and summer.

“During winter, trips are sadly a bit more expensive as they are mostly exotic long distance destinations with an average price of € 1,500 per person for a week or 10 vacation days, but those who can afford Tighter budgets are already booking trips to Madeira in March. Now I’m also noticing an improvement in the situation in Lithuania, so we hope that even more countries will let us in soon. It’s true that many travelers are quite optimistic and are already planning trips of spring and summer. Tour operators are ready to start trips to Turkey, the Greek islands, and I hope that they are available and Lithuanian travelers can go on vacation safely, ” said the interlocutor, adding that in his opinion, the Greek islands and Lithuanians’ favorite Turkey will rebound, most likely because they were able to receive tourists even during the pandemic and abruptly adapted to the change.

Rimvydas Širvinskas-Makalius, a tour operator who is currently on vacation and works in the Maldives, says that there really are places where you can travel safely: “For example, in the Maldives, only a dozen cases are recorded every day. This state is divided into many islands, which makes the spread of the coronavirus quite difficult. In addition, all tourists who come to Maldives without exception must have a negative COVID-19 test, so I feel safe with both locals and tourists.

According to him, airlines and hotels are offering increasingly flexible cancellation conditions to keep tourists to a minimum and make it easier for them to make travel decisions. In addition, on Tuesday, after deliberations, the Seimas approved an amendment to the Civil Code, which plans to shorten the deadline for tour operators to return money to tourists for trips not due to the coronavirus crisis to 14 days.

“Tour operators will soon have to pay back money for failed trips in 90 days instead of 90 days, which should also encourage people to travel. Another observation is that if the requirement to return money to tourists is introduced within 14 days, people will have much more confidence in tour operators, so they will plan less independent trips, because airlines will not have such a requirement ”, the interviewee is convinced.

Žydrė Gavelienė, president of the National Association of Tourism Companies, who is currently on holiday in Madeira, said when asked if it is safe to travel at this time, “traveling has never been safer than now.”

“Now many hygiene and safety measures have been implemented, so traveling has never been safer than now. Sure, you need to choose a safe country, but traveling is really possible now and we see that people do it. We learned to live with a pandemic. We really hope that soon travel will recover even more and people will travel more, “he says.

Ž. Gavelienė warns that due to the tightening of quarantine requirements in Lithuania, a large number of Lithuanians went abroad for a longer period of time. Some go to safer places in Europe, others telecommute or study from there.

“If a traveler is mobile, they can travel now and if not word license, and just a vacation, then mid-February is worth considering – winter school vacation. It was a very popular vacation time to travel to Egypt, to various ski resorts or to visit European capitals. This is likely to change this year and there will be far fewer ski trips, but there are certainly safe places to travel. For now, in Europe, we recommend Madeira or the Canary Islands. They handle well. If you want to travel further, you can choose Maldives, Mexico, Costa Rica. Well, the big trip started in late March and early April, during St. Easter Break. Tour operators already have convenient direct flights on these dates, all you have to do is choose ”, says the interlocutor.

When asked how travel will be affected by the initiation of vaccination, Ž. Gavelienė says that now a person needs an identification document and a negative test result when traveling, and in the future the latter will be replaced by a vaccination document.

“The question of how to have this proof of vaccination in digital format is currently being addressed at the European level so that all institutions can access it and verify it. Yes, the coronavirus vaccine will be a new document that will allow you to travel more widely ”, the interviewee is convinced.