The UK has now put Montenegro on its ‘Red List’, which means that travelers returning from there will face hotel quarantine upon arrival in the UK. Photo: iStock

As the heavily vaccinated Northern Hemisphere opened up to travel almost miraculously in recent months, its citizens viewed and continue to view the understaffed and over-cautious antipodes as the frightened weird little guys of the western world.

But difficult as it is to report, there are increasingly worrying signs from Europe that the much heralded restart of tourism may prove something of a false delta dawn.

Could it be that a shaky frontier view of Australia and New Zealand – accentuated by the fact that our zero-sum game thinking is many months behind other high-income nations due to our slow vaccine procurement – could prove the smarter attitude?

As desperate as it has been for tourism profits to flow back to a continent that is heavily dependent on tourism, the European Union this week removed the US, where COVID-19 numbers and deaths are escalating again, from a safe travel list. recommends that COVID restrictions be reintroduced for American visitors.

It’s only been two months since the EU lifted most of its restrictions on US visitors, and it coincides with increasing reports that even fully vaccinated American tourists are shying away from international travel.

And the troubles are not confined to the US, as the World Travel & Tourism Council is calling for the UK government to end its controversial, confusing and complicated travel traffic light system, according to Travel Daily UK.

In the latest update to the UK system, only seven countries were put on the green-light, safe-to-travel list, while Thailand and Montenegro, both popular with sun-hungry British tourists, suddenly made the red list, in an echo of the chaos of last northern summer.

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Dozens of British easyJet passengers from Montenegro now have to spend 11 nights in hotel quarantine in the UK after failing to depart the airline’s proposed “pre-red list” evacuation flight intended to overcome the change in status. The independent reports.

The Balkan Republic of Montenegro was added to the UK government’s red list at 4 a.m. UK time on Monday over concerns about COVID rates. For arrivals after this time, approximately A $ 3,771 equivalent is required to isolate yourself at an airport hotel.

The situation underlines how complex the resumption of international travel is in the age of the devilish Delta variant, as is clear from the example of Australia, where its two largest domestic tourism markets are out of order.

The experience of Europe will certainly add to the way Australia approaches its own border openings. Let’s not even think about the terrifying consequences for tourism and everything else if another, even more contagious version of COVID emerges.

In order to make it onto the non-binding but influential list of the EU’s safe nations, a country can shout Time Report. The U.S. averaged more than 152,000 new cases a day for the past week.

Even in the case of the USA, all tourists who are allowed or allowed to visit Europe come from an effectively depleted market.

In the early days of the pandemic, the New York Times asked Americans whether they would get vaccinated if vaccines became a reality. Even with millions of cases, only about half said they would get the vaccination.

Fortunately, this seems to have been a little low (72 percent of Americans over 12 have now received a first dose), but some states have rates much lower than average and the unvaccinated are causing the numbers to rise.

“The hypercommunicable delta variant of the coronavirus now has some would-be [US] Travelers trying to cancel trips and others to consider whether it is safe to go ahead with their plans, “a Washington Post report said earlier this week.” As hospital admissions try to increase in much of the country – mostly among the unvaccinated the Americans to adapt “in flight.”

In the New York Times in an article entitled “Blindsides Abroad: Vaccinated but tested positive on a trip to EuropeAmerican travelers report that they have tested positive for costly COVID tests and are quarantined at their own expense in countries like Greece.

The Times points out that when Europe reopened its borders with the US in June, the Delta variant was not as contagious as it has been less common in so-called “breakthrough infections” for fully vaccinated people.

For Australians desperate to travel overseas and actually want to return home, these are worrying signals. In the midst of the chaos, however, an optimistic note can be found. By the time we finally reach the required milestone of 80 percent of double-dose Australians (if we ever do) to open borders, hopefully Europe, the UK and the US will have faced their myriad of challenges.

But regardless of any national vaccination rate, all indications are that there will almost certainly be no “Freedom Day” for Australians. Singapore looks as good as it will be for overseas travel in the medium term.

Until that happens, millions of Australians using early vaccines, including this one, will be organizing a booster vaccination with the embattled tourism industry, which is undoubtedly also desperate for a shot in the arm.

Anthony Dennis is the editor of Traveler in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

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