The removal of the testing rule is projected to bring in an additional 5.4 million visitors and US$9 billion in travel spend for the U.S. this year. Photo Credit: GettyImages/Rawpixel Ltd
Insiders from the American business travel and events industry
welcomed the CDC's announcement that, as of 12 June 2022, the U.S. would
no longer require incoming air travellers to show proof of negative
Covid-19 pre-departure tests prior to entry.
In a statement, Suzanne Neufang, CEO of the Global Business Travel
Association said: “It is vital to global recovery that we continue to
show that America is open for business and for business travel.”
Neufang said that, with the scrapping of testing requirements, she
expects an increase in Americans' willingness to return to international
travel.
"Americans ave been unwilling to take the chance of being
unable to return to the U.S. at the end of their business trip or
vacation. This will also help to ensure we create an easy path forward
for international travellers to return to the U.S. for business,
conferences and meetings,” she added.
According to the U.S. Travel Association, the easing of the testing
rule would mean an additional 5.4 million visitors and US$9 billion in
travel spend for the U.S. this year.
Business Travel Association CEO Clive Wratten, meanwhile, said in a
statement he hoped the United States' decision would "be a clarion call
for all countries to remove the remaining restrictions and encourage
international travel once more."
Tommy Goodwin, vice president of government affairs for the
Exhibitions and Conferences Alliance (ECA), a MICE industry association,
said: “ECA applauds the Biden administration and the CDC. As the
face-to-face business events industry continues to work tirelessly to
bring back international exhibitors and attendees to our conferences and
trade shows, this welcome news removes one of the key barriers to
jump-starting our industry’s recovery and getting people from around the
world back to business at our U.S. events.”
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, prior to the pandemic,
the country's travel and tourism industry in 2019 welcomed a total of
79.4 million international visitors who contributed $239.4 billion to
the economy.
The department has recently rolled out a five-year National Travel
and Tourism Strategy 2022, outlining plans to attract 90 million
international visitors who will spend US$279 billion annually. The plans
include leveraging large-scale consumer events, such as the 2026 FIFA
World Cup, EXPO 2027 (if awarded to the United States) and the 2028
Olympics in Los Angeles.