WASHINGTON (April 2, 2021)—U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on Friday’s announcement that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will substantially relax the guidance on travel for individuals who have been fully vaccinated against COVID:

“The CDC’s new travel guidance is a major step in the right direction that is supported by the science and will take the brakes off the industry that has been hardest hit by the fallout of COVID by far. As travel comes back, U.S. jobs come back.

“The CDC’s data suggests that vaccinated individuals don’t transmit the coronavirus, which opens the door much wider for resuming travel, albeit while continuing to carefully follow other health best practices. Acknowledging that vaccinations eliminate the need for testing and quarantines removes a key barrier to domestic travel. Rescinding the recommendation that international visitors must quarantine also is an important incremental step.

“The year-long halt on travel has devastated U.S. employment, with travel-supported jobs accounting for 65% of all U.S. jobs lost last year, and this is an opportunity to begin reclaiming a lot of what’s been lost. The travel industry’s mantra throughout the pandemic has been to be guided by the science, which clearly shows that now is the right time for this move.

“Meanwhile, it remains important that all eligible Americans get vaccinated as soon as they can in order to more quickly recover the ability for all to travel freely.”