KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The travel industry in the United States faces another setback after the European Union banned travelers from the U.S. as it reopens its borders amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Airlines, airports and travel agencies, which already were struggling amid the economic fallout of efforts to control COVID-19's spread, are barred from sending passengers to E.U. nations.
The E.U. requires a reciprocal easing of travel restrictions, but the most travelers from Europe remain prohibiting from entering the U.S. by presidential proclamation.
The E.U. also requires the status of the pandemic to better than or roughly equal to conditions in Europe, but that's not the case at the moment as new COVID-19 cases surge across the U.S.
Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea and China, subject to reciprocity, are on the list of countries approved for travel to the E.U., but not the U.S.
Mark Ebbitts, president of Shelton Travel Service in Kansas City, Missouri, said his agency has lost more than $600,000 since the pandemic reached the region more than three months ago. He expects to lose more with additional trips planned to Europe in the next few months.
"Those trips would be off," Ebbitts said. "As a travel agency, we can’t keep having these cancellations occur. We have to reinvent ourselves to spur more domestic travel, and get people excited about traveling again."
Shelton Travel has seen an uptick in scheduled trips within the U.S. and other North American locations.
"In Kansas City, we’re seeing more domestic than international travel," Ebbitts said. "We’re seeing travel to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the Caymans, picking up."
Ebbitts added that U.S. trips follow a similar theme.
"Places like Jackson Hole, (Wyoming), a place near Missoula, Montana, called Paws Up — these are resorts, more like dude ranches," he said. "People want openness, that outside feel. That’s what we’re seeing as of today."
If cases continue to grow, however, even domestic travel could be restricted again.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced travelers to his state from certain states with rising COVID-19 cases would have to self-quarantine for two weeks upon arrival. Missouri and Kansas are not on that list as of now.
