More Central Ohioans are ready to travel again now that COVID-19 vaccinations have progressed, but they will find some hurdles to overcome through at least the end of 2021.
Travel agencies are starting to see business pick back up somewhat, however business remains way down compared to before the pandemic because travel to many countries is still prohibited.
鈥淎ny U.S. citizen returning back to the United States from any foreign destination does require a negative COVID test within three days of their flight back to the U.S. So that is one hurdle that our clients do have to consider when they do travel outside the United States,鈥� says Rob Elking, owner of Grandview Travel.
dropped 90% last year after the pandemic started in March. It鈥檚 come back up somewhat but is still close to 80% off from early 2020.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing some bright spots,鈥� Elking says. 鈥淧eople are wanting to travel. They want to travel safe.鈥�
Popular destinations are warm beach locations in the Florida panhandle and Hilton Head, where families can rent a home.
鈥淧arents traveling with their children and grandchildren,鈥� Elking says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e looking for a big home. Maybe a 6, 7- bedroom home on the beach with a private pool. They don鈥檛 want to stay at a hotel. They鈥檙e looking for large accommodations so they can keep their family together.鈥�
Vacationers looking for cruises can now book trips, but Elking says they will have to travel outside of the U.S. to embark.
鈥淭here is an opportunity to cruise,鈥� Elking says. 鈥淥ur clients will not be cruising from any port here in the United States. One will have to travel to a foreign destination and cruise from there.鈥�
Some cruise lines have moved their ships to Bermuda, Iceland, Nassau or Athens, Greece.
Elking says travel to Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand is still on pause.
鈥淓specially Europe, France and Italy, they鈥檙e behind us on vaccinations,鈥� Elking says. 鈥淲hether we become vaccinated, it鈥檚 a situation where our clients are traveling to. Is that country, are their borders open? Are they being vaccinated?鈥�
Elking looks forward to more travelers next year.
鈥淲e have positioned ourselves to be ready for a big uptick in business,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to see that later this year, and into 2022.鈥�
