The travel industry must “roll with the punches” as authorities necessities proceed to evolve with the pandemic, in response to the Asia-Pacific president of a travel services firm.

“The key thing is that the industry will remain in flux for the foreseeable future,” Todd Handcock of Collinson Group informed CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Wednesday.

He identified that Hong Kong this week announced plans to ban flights from eight countries, after Chief Executive Carrie Lam stated the metropolis was “facing a very dire situation of a major community outbreak any time.”

In distinction, the U.K. is set to relax testing requirements for fully vaccinated travelers, Handcock added.

Testing and vaccinations will proceed to be a part of the means of travel for 2022 and probably 2023, he stated, referencing a latest survey that Collinson carried out with CAPA – Centre for Aviation.

“We’re going to have to continue to roll with the punches and adjust as things change,” he stated.

He additionally stated he does not anticipate omicron to trigger “significant” adjustments.

Goals and obstacles forward

When requested if verification of checks and vaccination statuses may very well be simplified for travel, Handcock stated the aim is to have a digital, interoperable system that can be utilized globally.

But he added: “We’re still a long ways away” from that.

Raising vaccination charges round the world would even be good for anybody who travels, he stated.

Developed nations have raced forward in providing booster pictures, whereas a lot of the world hasn’t been inoculated, he stated.

Echoing the sentiments of experts such as those from the World Health Organization, he added that Covid variants will emerge so long as there are massive, unvaccinated populations.

About 59% of the world’s inhabitants has obtained not less than one dose of a Covid vaccine — however solely 8.8% of these in low-income nations obtained not less than one dose, in response to knowledge collated by Our World in Data.

The WHO said Thursday that the unequal distribution of vaccines will undermine international financial restoration, and that low vaccine protection in lots of nations was a significant factor in the emergence of variants corresponding to delta and omicron.



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