U.S. Travel Association President/CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the forthcoming announcement that the Biden administration will form “working groups” to determine the path to reopening international travel with Canada, the European Union, Mexico and the U.K.:
“This announcement marks an important step forward in our national recovery from the pandemic.
“U.S. Travel and its membership believe a public-private task force can quickly develop a blueprint to reopen international inbound travel and jumpstart a sustained jobs and economic recovery. With decreased infection rates in the U.S., combined with the administration’s goal of having a critical mass of Americans fully vaccinated by July 4th, there is a true near-term opportunity to safely begin to welcome back international visitors.
“International travel can be safely restarted by applying a risk-based and science-driven approach, and our hope is that the working groups are able to put a reopening framework in place very quickly.
“The travel industry commends the Biden administration for taking this critical and necessary step on the international front, and we look forward to working with the federal government in every way possible to advance this process.”