Featured Image: Stacey Hilton
By Susan & Simon Veness
Relief. Joy. Tears. Excitement. Our emotions have been a mix of all these things – and more! – in the past week after the date for the resumption of holiday travel to the USA was finally confirmed for November 8.
For fully 20 months, we have sat here in Florida – the heart of a tourism colossus – and been largely sidelined by the effects of the pandemic and its tragic consequences. Yes, many things have returned to “business as usual” here in the Sunshine State this year, but we have remained isolated from much of it, left in a kind of curious stasis by the feeling something has been missing.
The answer, of course, is that there has definitely been something significant missing – our British visitors!
We are SO used to hearing British accents the length and breadth of this vast destination that to be without them for so long is tantamount to living in a twilight world of almost-tourism. Plenty of people, but none of the ones we’re used to seeing and hearing; an absence of essence.
In more simple, human terms, we’ve missed friends and family, colleagues and new business contacts. It’s been a negative experience in nearly every sense.
And it’s not just us. Talk to travel industry folks in Tallahassee and Miami, Orlando and Crystal River, and they will all tell you the same thing – the lack of international visitors has been painful to witness
Now, however, that is about to change. In just a few short weeks, the tap that has been so definitively turned off will move in the other direction. Florida is back on the menu!
Just to recap, the ban on flights from the UK for all but “essential” visitors and those resident in the US was introduced in late March 2020 by President Trump and reinforced by President Biden in January this year.
Even though Britain and the EU eased its quarantine regulations on US visitors in August, the response from the White House stayed the same – America remained off limits for those just looking for a well-earned holiday.
But, thanks to a concerted campaign led by various tourism industry heavyweights, from the airlines and tour operators to the US Travel Association, the government began to see the light regarding the ending of the non-essential travel ban. With vaccination rates high on both sides of the Atlantic, it was time to back up the scientific opinion that it IS possible to resume our regular business without compromising the pandemic progress we’ve made.
On September 20, we heard the eagerly-awaited news that the embargo would be ending, “in early November.” Exactly when had remained a mystery until last Friday (October 15), until a US government official tweeted:
“Today, the Biden administration is announcing that its new travel policy that requires vaccination for foreign national travelers to the United States will begin on 8 November.”
Of course, the resumption of our favourite holiday destination for (almost) all-comers does come with some stipulations, and these will be ultra-important in the weeks and months ahead.
First on the agenda is the requirement for all travellers to be fully vaccinated. In the case of the two-jab inoculations (AstraZenica, Moderna and Pfizer), both must have been completed, along with a two-week subsequent period for the vaccines to become fully effective. For Johnson & Johnson, it is just the one jab followed by the two-week wait.
For children under 18, we are still awaiting confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) for the full requirement, as the UK is currently implementing the one-jab-only policy for those in the 12-17 age group. Does this fulfill the CDC’s “fully inoculated” stipulation, and what about under 12s?
The only clue we have so far is a rather vague statement from the government spokesman, insisting, “Children under 18 are expected to be exempt from the [vaccination] requirement.”
Next, it is a matter of everyone over the age of two taking a Covid-19 test no more than three days before departure, and ensuring it is negative, or being able to show proof of recovery from the virus within the last 90 days.
In the case of the former, if you’re flying at 1pm on a Monday, you’ll need to show that you are virus-free on or after 1pm on the previous Friday. And, as we understand it, the lateral flow test (LFT) will be sufficient to prove a negative result as against the more expensive (and time-consuming) PCR test, although this also remains unconfirmed among the small details that we expect to hear more about this month.
Be aware, travellers who are not fully vaccinated will continue to be prohibited from visiting the US.
For the very latest info, see the US government website here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/covid-19_testing_required_US_Entry.html
OK, so that’s the house-keeping out of the way, now you are free to get on with the job – the glorious, wonderful job – of researching and booking your next holiday in Florida.
As far as the state is concerned, everything is pretty much as it was when the drawbridge was pulled up last year. The beaches are just as wonderful; the climate continues to be idyllic; the restaurants and nightlife remain first class; the shopping still presents an Aladdin’s Cave of opportunity; and the theme parks are packed with more fun than ever, largely thanks to the start of Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration, which began on October 1 and runs for fully 18 months.
This latter will continue to make Orlando the No.1 destination for those heading to the Sunshine State in the near future, but don’t ignore the many, many possibilities for getting off the beaten track and really exploring this fabulous, multi-faceted state.
In the past couple of years, we’ve highlighted the likes of the Offbeat Florida that is just beyond the main attractions; we have detailed the possibilities for fly-drive options, like the gorgeous Treasure Coast; we’ve written about the more eclectic elements, such as the boom in craft brewing; and we have presented plenty of new options, like Florida’s latest entry in the All-American Road series.
In short, there remains a wealth of attractions, diversions and sheer holiday pleasures awaiting our British visitors now we know for sure that the US is putting out the Welcome Mat once again.
You can be absolutely certain that Floridians will be more than delighted to see the return of the international market, and especially their cousins from across the pond. That feeling of being deprived has gone on for WAY too long, and November 8 should signal the breaking of the metaphorical dam in that respect. You’ll be welcome like never before.
And, for us, there will be the sheer, unadulterated enjoyment of meeting up with friends old and new, of seeing the BA and Virgin Atlantic flights back at Orlando, Miami and Tampa (as well as TUI pioneering a new gateway of Melbourne Orlando International Airport from March 20220, and of hearing all those familiar accents once again!
We simply can’t wait. And we hope you can’t, too.
Susan & Simon Veness are the UK’s leading experts on Florida, having written about it for more than 25 years and sold more than half a million copies of their books about Orlando, Disney and the Sunshine State.