New Online Tool Tells You Which Countries Are Allowing Travel
LAURIE BARATTI JUNE 05, 2020
The International Airline Transportation Association (IATA) has created an Interactive (COVID-19) Travel Regulations Map, maintaining an up-to-date, authoritative resource that travelers can reference to gauge which worldwide destinations are opening up to receive visitors again, and to what degree.
Such a tool will surely prove itself invaluable to anyone hoping to travel internationally in the foreseeable future, as COVID-19-related developments continue to alter the global travel landscape on a near-daily basis.
Every country on the map is color-coded to provide an easy, visual reference for understanding the relative strictness of its current travel regulations. Each nation falls into one of four broader categories: ‘Totally Restrictive’, ‘Partially Restrictive’, ‘No regulations related to Coronavirus (COVID-19) implemented’ and ‘Latest updates currently under review’.
Users can simply click on a country to view detailed information about its current restrictions, including air-travel status, quarantine policies, eligibility parameters, exemptions and applicable documentation requirements.
As the world witnessed back in March 2020, when countries around the globe suddenly slammed their borders shut in efforts to curb the escalating spread of COVID-19, regulations can literally change overnight, leaving travelers confused and scrambling to adjust their plans.
As the pandemic comes under better control, with aviation-sector measures established to minimize the risk of viral transmission and preventive practices being adopted on the ground globally, things are beginning to normalize. As they do, countries will be altering (many relaxing) their restrictive policies on cross-border movements within a matter of months or weeks, if not days, so it’s important to keep abreast of the latest developments in any destination you may be eyeing.
For example, the European Commission had announced its intention that the European Union (E.U.) should reopen its internal borders among member states by June 15, with various precautionary measures in place. Just today, it announced that it now aims to have the 26-nation Schengen zone fully reopened by the end of June 2020. However, all non-E.U. travelers will still be subject to a fourteen-day quarantine—a policy for which no definitive end-date has been announced.
Timatic, the software which powers the Interactive COVID-19 Travel Regulations Map, is an IATA tech solution that’s already heavily relied upon by airlines and other aviation partners, as well as travel agents, to securely manage the passenger document verification process—in essence, to verify whether prospective travelers fulfill the requirements needed to enter each particular destination.
The consolidation of the latest data for each destination and its application in Timatic is achieved through IATA’s partnership with airlines and close bilateral relations with government agencies worldwide.
As pointed out by opinion website GodSaveThePoints, it’s impossible to guarantee the absolute, up-to-the-minute accuracy of information from any single online source, so it suggests also checking travelbans.org to further inform your travel decisions.
For more information, visit iatatravelcentre.com.