Foreign travel was just opening up. Omicron means it’s a mine again

The US is tightening testing requirements for inbound travelers, including US citizens. Japan and Israel are banning almost all foreign visitors right now. Countries in Europe and Asia have established new rules for international travelers—including additional testing and quarantine requirements.

Several countries immediately banned or banned travelers from southern Africa, where the new variant was first identified. But governments are also imposing restrictions on coming from elsewhere as cases of omicrons continue to emerge around the world.

While less than most outright restrictions, the new rules make travel harder to plan and more expensive if additional testing is required. Quarantine rules can make business travel especially impractical. Ahead of the holiday season, travelers are also running the risk of being caught mid-trip by new, more stringent rules.

South Korea said it would begin quarantining foreign visitors for 10 days. In response, a UN peace conference in Seoul that was expected to draw more than 700 people next week will now be held online, officials said.

The country’s semi-official Yonhap news agency reported that Korean boy band BTS, which is in Los Angeles for their first in-person concert in two years, could not attend next week’s music awards ceremony in Seoul due to a quarantine requirement. Will be able to take , The band had planned to return to South Korea after their final performance in the US on Friday. On this day the new rules of South Korea come into force. A representative for the band’s agent could not be immediately reached for comment.

Switzerland requires visitors from more than 20 countries to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival. US visitors can still travel quarantine-free, but those from the UK and many other European countries cannot. Executives say travel is planned for bankers, who have recently started to reroute between financial capitals such as London, Zurich and Geneva.

Switzerland also hosts the World Economic Forum, a conference of world and business leaders held in Davos every January. Last year there was no meeting. Organizers did not respond to requests for comment on how the ban could affect the event next month.

JPMorgan Chase & Co has canceled its annual festive carol reception in London next week, according to the company’s email. In previous years, the event was held in a historic hall on the banks of the River Thames, where top bankers met customers favorite over canapés and mulled wine.

In parts of Asia, new travel restrictions are again raising the odds that last year made foreign travel in the region nearly impossible. The figure skating final event of the International Skating Union Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan in early December, was canceled because foreign skaters could not come, the Japan Skating Federation said on Thursday.

In Europe, travel restrictions are not as stringent, although they have been tightened in many countries. For example, France now requires a negative COVID-19 test for all travelers from outside the European Union to be fully vaccinated. Previously, people vaccinated with an EU-approved vaccine did not require preflight testing.

Airline booking data for international travel is not yet widely available for days after South Africa’s disclosure of the Omicron edition on Friday. But early data from hotel bookings in Europe and Asia shows reservations are falling again, reversing some earlier gains, especially in Europe.

According to YipitData, for the week ended November 28, hotel bookings across Europe were down 21% compared to the same period in 2019. As recently as the end of October, hotel bookings were up 2% compared to the same period in 2019. In addition to concerns about the Omicron variant, the continued decline has been matched by rising Covid-19 cases across much of the continent, attributed to the Delta variant.

The US opened its borders to vaccinate Europeans and others in early November, ending a ban on most non-resident foreigners imposed in March 2020. It gave a huge lift to the international travel industry, which has since struggled to come back. Beginning of the pandemic. According to the US Travel Association, countries on the formerly banned list accounted for 53% of all foreign visitors to the US in 2019.

The Biden administration is not reinstating such a ban, but is introducing new rules for international travelers coming to the US. Senior administration officials said the new rules would require passengers to be tested within a day of departure, regardless of vaccination status, instead of the 72 hours currently required for vaccinated passengers. The new testing rules will apply to both US citizens and foreign nationals entering the country.