On Monday (26 July), Reuters, citing a White House official, reported the US had no plans to lift any existing travel restrictions "at this point".
"Given where we are today with the Delta variant, the United States will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point," Reuters reported the official as saying.
But US Travel Association executive vice-president of public affairs and policy, Tori Emerson Barnes, said closed borders "have not prevented the Delta variant from entering the US" while vaccinations "are proving incredibly durable to the virus’ evolution".
"This is why America’s travel industry is a vocal proponent of everyone getting a vaccine – it’s the surest and fastest path to normalcy for everyone," she added.
"Given the high rates of vaccination on both sides of the Atlantic, it is possible to begin safely welcoming back vaccinated visitors from these crucial inbound markets."
Emerson Barnes detailed how other countries, such as Canada, the UK and "much of" the EU, have "all taken steps to welcome inbound travellers this summer".
"We respectfully urge the Biden administration to revisit its decision in the very near term and begin reopening international travel to vaccinated individuals, starting with air corridors between the US and nations with similar vaccination rates," she added.
‘Disappointing’
The UK’s policing minister, meanwhile, has branded the White House’s stance "disappointing" and called for a more immediate resumption of UK-US travel.
Kit Malthouse said: "It’s obviously disappointing – we want to get back to international travel as soon as possible.
"[But] that’s for them to assess and we’re assessing the likelihood of variants coming in from other countries as well and so it doesn’t surprise me that they’re doing similar."
Malthouse added there would continue to be uncertainty for travel, even if it was to be the "tail end" of the Covid crisis. "People will have to bare that in mind as they decide their travel plans."
