A local celebrates his vaccination in Bendigo, the city with the highest vaccination rate in Australia. Photo: Jason South
Forget about first class. Forget about business. Forget about bonus. Forget about economics (yes, we’re definitely trying to forget about economics).
There are only two travel classes that matter now and for the foreseeable future: the jabbed and the jabless.
We can discuss the pros and cons of vaccination requirements until we’re all blue in our masked faces. But the dynamic that builds around vaccinations for almost all forms of travel – one of the truest expressions of freedom – is like a runaway high-speed train.
Tourists queued to enter the Colosseum in Rome last week. You must have proof of vaccination or a negative test from the last 48 hours to enter. Photo: AP
Health is and will remain the dominant and at the same time most stressful characteristic in the new era of tourism. The ubiquitous epidemiologist is the new travel agency, so to speak.
Digital health passes for travelers are no longer just a question of “when” or “if”, but rather “why on earth not?” Those who do not want to abide by it will almost certainly find themselves in their own kind of endless housekeeping rules.
In a rare win for the hotly contested cruise industry, a US court ruled this week that passengers board Norwegian Cruise Line ships in Florida Proof of a COVID-19 vaccination can be requested before boarding one of his ships in the original Sunshine State.
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The decision was made despite local law passed in Florida aimed at appeasing the state’s Legion of Pro-Trump COVID-19 deniers and imposing fines on any company that requires proof of such vaccinations.
Whether you arrive by sea or air, once you are in your international destination, such as tourism hotspots like Italy and France, you are unlikely to be able to pursue important travel activities such as visiting museums and restaurants, unless you can produce a vaccination card.
As more customers end up having to be vaccinated than not, what part of the travel industry, be it an Australian outback motel or a Parisian five-star hotel, will ultimately not want to protect its business, its employees and even its guests as comprehensively as possible ?
In addition, the ailing global tourism industry will not want to alienate the majority of its potential customers in order to do justice to a skeptical, uncooperative minority.
Airlines are giving up the pretext that air travel is somehow immune to the contagion (remember all those miracle air filters from last year?) And pointing out that you need proof of vaccination to fly.
But let’s not stop at detecting COVID-19 syringes on digital health passports, we also require travelers to show they are also up to date with other vaccinations such as those for the flu, especially the Northern Hemisphere variations are. Why not use this moment to leave the inevitability of travel bug behind us as much as possible?
Visitors show their passport to enter the Louvre Museum in Paris on Friday. You must have a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test. Photo: AP
Personally, as I am fully vaccinated and ready to receive a refresher in due course, I would be prepared for digital health passports to be extended to domestic travel – as well as travel to and from New Zealand when the blister clears again. inflated – if that means more security of movement and a more stable and prosperous tourism industry.
See also: I returned to Rome from Australia where the locals cannot believe our restrictions
See also: Qantas confirms the introduction of the digital health pass for international flights
