- Disgusted travelers film couple amid ‘sex act’ on British Airways flight — in full view of child passengers New York Post
- Couple ‘perform sex act on BA flight from Heathrow to Dublin’ in front of ‘disgusted’ passengers Daily Mail
- British Airways passengers left horrified after witnessing ‘vigorous’ sex act on plane GB News
- Toe-curling moment brazen woman ‘performs sex act on man’ during packed BA flight in front of disgusted pas… The US Sun
- Passengers ‘engage in sex act on British Airways flight’ leaving holidaymakers ‘disgusted’ The Mirror
Tag Archives: travelers
Southwest Airlines cancels hundreds of flights, disrupting some holiday travelers – CBS News
- Southwest Airlines cancels hundreds of flights, disrupting some holiday travelers CBS News
- Some travelers at Chicago’s Midway International Airport faced with delays after temporary ground stop WGN TV Chicago
- Christmas chaos: Dozens of flights canceled out of both Chicago airports due to dense fog Fox Business
- Southwest cancellations today: Chicago fog to blame for initial issues amid Midway flight cancellations, delays, airlines says WLS-TV
- Dense fog in Chicago area caused delays and cancellations at Midway Airport ahead of busy Christmas Eve CNN
Plus-size travelers bring new attention to Southwest Airlines’ ‘customer of size’ policy on TikTok – CNN
- Plus-size travelers bring new attention to Southwest Airlines’ ‘customer of size’ policy on TikTok CNN
- Southwest’s plus-sized passenger policy debated on social media The Hill
- Viral TikTok sparks interest in Southwest Airlines policy for plus-size travelers Good Morning America
- Southwest Airlines celebrated for policy to give a full row to ‘passengers of size’ for free Fox Business
- Southwest Airlines is praised for ‘customers of size’ policy that allows overweight flyers to purchase one seat and get another complimentary New York Post
Frontier Airlines overhauls frequent flyer program to reward travelers based on spending – CNBC
- Frontier Airlines overhauls frequent flyer program to reward travelers based on spending CNBC
- Big change: Frontier Airline shifts to revenue-based earnings, overhauls elite tiers The Points Guy
- Frontier Is the Latest Airline to Revamp Its Loyalty Program in 2024 Travel + Leisure
- Frontier’s Status Match Game-Changer: Fly Family Of 4 To Disney For $153 Roundtrip Complete! View from the Wing
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‘We’re paying twice for the same experience’: Plus-size travelers hit out at ‘discriminatory’ airline seat policies – CNN
- ‘We’re paying twice for the same experience’: Plus-size travelers hit out at ‘discriminatory’ airline seat policies CNN
- Passenger gets revenge on woman for putting down the armrest on a flight – but it’s really divided opi… The US Sun
- ‘Armrest war’ breaks out on plane with ‘battle’ over space as man spreads himself out Express
- I paid extra for reclining seat on seven hour flight but mum with baby on her lap behind shouted at me for… The Irish Sun
- Outrage at passenger’s man-spreading on flight after armrest flashpoint Devon Live
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Travelers at MSP Airport face long lines, cancelations and delays – CBS Minnesota
- Travelers at MSP Airport face long lines, cancelations and delays CBS Minnesota
- Crowds of passengers took shelter inside O’Hare Airport as hundreds of flights are delayed amid severe storms, tornado warnings: ‘I have never seen anything like this’ Yahoo! Voices
- Hundreds of flights delayed at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, others canceled WBTV
- Severe weather causes flight groundings, train suspensions in Chicago area Chicago Sun-Times
- Flight cancellations delay spring break plans for travelers at MSP KARE11.com
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Airline CEO preparing travelers for more disruptions
Aviation lawyer Mark Dombroff and former transportation dpt general counsel Steven Bradbury discuss the FQQ software outage that cause nationwide ground stop to airlines on ‘Fox Business Tonight.’
One airline CEO is warning travelers that other carriers won’t be able to handle all the flights they plan to operate this year.
And that will lead to more disruptions.
United Airlines chief Scott Kirby said airlines that operate as if this is still 2019, before the pandemic, are bound to struggle.
According to Kirby, the industry has a shortage of pilots and other workers, outdated technology and strain on the Federal Aviation Administration.
NEW PILOT CONTRACTS TO DRIVE UP COSTS AT US AIRLINES
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Executive Vice President John Laughter of Delta Air Lines testify before the Senate Committee hearing. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS / Reuters Photos)
“The system simply can’t handle the volume today, much less the anticipated growth,” Kirby said. “There are a number of airlines who cannot fly their schedules. The customers are paying the price.”
Kirby used the problems encountered by Southwest Airlines over the holidays without naming the carrier by name.
Southwest had to scrub nearly 17,000 flights in late December after a winter storm upset the schedule and overwhelmed the airline’s crew-scheduling system.
“What happened over the holidays wasn’t a one-time event caused by the weather, and it wasn’t just at one airline,” he said. Alaska, Spirit and Frontier also had double-digit percentages of canceled flights in late December.
A United Airlines passenger aircraft, Boeing 777, arriving at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. (istock / iStock)
HOLIDAY FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS: KNOW YOUR AIRLINE’S POLICIES AND BEST OPTIONS
Kirby made the remarks during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts and reporters.
Kirby made a note of the investment his airline has made in technology, has more employees per flight than before the pandemic, keeps more spare planes and isn’t pushing the schedule too hard.
United Airlines planes are parked at gates at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J. ((AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) / AP Newsroom)
UNITED AIRLINES PLACES MASSIVE BOEING DREAMLINER ORDER
However, those steps have raised United’s cost to fly one mile, not counting fuel, about 15% above 2019’s level.
After the stock market closed Tuesday, Chicago-based United reported a profit of $843 million for the fourth quarter and predicted that 2023 earnings would easily top Wall Street forecasts.
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| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAL | UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. | 48.86 | -2.34 | -4.57% |
Shares of United Airlines Holdings Group Inc. lost 4.6% on Wednesday and another 1% in extended trading.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Where are Chinese travelers heading now that borders have reopened?
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(CNN) — Xiongjie Dai, a freelance software engineer living in the Chinese city of Suzhou, dreams about his first big trip post-Covid-19.
The 32-year-old says destinations like South Korea, Europe, Japan, New Zealand and Australia rank high on the list. But he has his eyes set on the US.
“When I have enough money, I’d like to visit America first,” he tells CNN Travel. “America is the leader in both the computer science and IT industries, so I want to visit Silicon Valley and famous universities like MIT, Stanford and so on.”
According to Trip.com Group data, outbound flight bookings increased 254% in late December, the day after it was announced that travel restrictions would be eased as of January 8.
“We are optimistic about the tourism outlook,” Wendy Min, head of media and executive communications at the Trip.com Group, tells CNN Travel.
“The latest policy announcement is encouraging, and we expect strong pent-up demand and increasing consumer confidence.”
Where to first?
Singapore is a top destination for Chinese travelers, according to Trip.com Group data.
Noppasinw/Adobe Stock
The most popular destinations so far are Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand, based on Trip.com Group bookings. For long-haul destinations, the US, UK and Australia lead the pack.
“The trend we have seen is that short-haul flights are popular due to (lower) prices. Singapore, South Korea and Japan have always been quite popular with Chinese travelers, even pre-Covid,” says Min.
It makes sense for regional travel to recover first, says Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, CEO of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), since it is easier and less expensive to visit nearby destinations.
But the first quarter of 2023 will be almost exclusively urgent non-leisure travel, such as business trips, family reunions, student travel or healthcare needs, he adds.
Chinese business travelers will want to reconnect with the world’s major economies, like the US, Japan and Europe. In addition, destinations like the US, UK and Australia also attract many Chinese students, so some travelers may be planning reunions.
The first wave of leisure travel
According to Arlt, leisure travel will start to pick up in the second quarter of the year when things like passport and visa approval processes are running smoothly, and flights have fully resumed.
“Some leisure travelers will be very motivated to get a passport, visa and affordable ticket. Others will wait and see what stories the ‘pioneers’ have when they return,” he tells CNN Travel.
“The government spent three years making people in China feel afraid of the outside world, so some will still be anxious about whether it’s safe to travel.”
Throughout the pandemic, Chinese state media and the ruling Communist Party have repeatedly highlighted high death tolls in places like the US and UK compared to relatively low figures in China, as proof of the superiority of China’s authoritarian system.
As consumer confidence builds through the first quarter, Arlt expects to see more Chinese travelers taking regional getaways that prioritize well-being, relaxation and nature, probably around April.
“After all the stress and problems, and for many also grief (due to the high Covid-19 death toll in China), it can be expected that many will choose to get away from it all for a long weekend or at some beach resort in Vietnam, Thailand or Cambodia,” says Arlt.
Sienna Parulis-Cook is the director of marketing and communications at the Dragon Trail International digital marketing agency. She points to the Maldives as a beach destination of choice for affluent travelers in 2023.
“The Maldives appeals especially to the luxury market and those looking for a beautiful beach getaway — it’s also a destination that seemed to recover from the impact of Covid relatively quickly compared to other places in the world, so this might play into its popularity now,” she says.
Others will plan trips around hobbies, like mountain biking, hiking, wine-tasting, cooking and calligraphy.
“A lot of Chinese people have had time to develop their special interests (during the past three years),” says Arlt. “The pandemic has proven how fragile and short life can be, so doing meaningful things has become that much more important.”
The most desirable destinations
Luxury lovers have long been drawn to the Maldives.
s4svisuals/Adobe Stock
Before the pandemic, China was the world’s largest outbound travel market by departure numbers and spending. In 2019, Chinese travelers took 154.6 million trips abroad and spent nearly $255 billion, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Based on COTRI data projections, overseas trips could reach 115 million — a rebound of about three-quarters — by the end of the year, including trips to the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau.
Many of the same destinations will resume their top positions as travel rebounds, Parulis-Cook says.
In 2019, Thailand was the No. 1 most-visited destination by Chinese travelers, welcoming around 11 million Chinese tourists — over a quarter of the country’s overseas arrivals.
Japan came in a close second, drawing 9.5 million Chinese travelers in 2019, according to Japan Tourism Statistics. Vietnam, meanwhile, drew 5.8 million; South Korea, roughly 5.5 million; and Singapore, 3.6 million.
“The destinations that were popular before the pandemic are likely to resume their popularity when China reopens. The Chinese travel industry, and Dragon Trail, definitely expect destinations in Greater China (Hong Kong and Macau), Southeast, and East Asia to recover first,” says Parulis-Cook.
“They’re the closest to China, they have the most-recovered flight connectivity so far, and they are likely to seem safest and easiest for a first post-Covid outbound trip.”
Emerging hotspots and experiences
Chinese travelers have had three years to dream about where they want to go and swap stories with friends, says Arlt, and there’s growing interest in discovering less conventional destinations.
Trip.com’s Min is a case in point.
“I am definitely ready to restart my travel adventures. I typically visited five new countries per year pre-Covid,” she says. “Now that connection and mobility are coming back, I’m looking forward to some solo backpacking and experiencing the world through my own eyes again.”
The travel enthusiast has ambitious plans to explore Cyprus, Oman, Iraq, Rwanda, Madagascar and Namibia in 2023.
“I’ve thought about Central America too but will have to see what time I have,” she says.
Min’s desire to explore less-trodden destinations reflects a larger trend among experienced travelers.
Georgia offers travelers a unique mix of experiences.
Lukas Bischoff/iStockphoto/Getty Images
For example, Arlt says countries like Albania or Georgia are of interest.
Before the pandemic, Albania was just starting to appear on the radar for Chinese travelers. The country has centuries-old villages and authentic rural settings, which appeal to seasoned travelers, he says.
Georgia, meanwhile, attracts with its diverse mix of experiences: an urban adventure in the capital Tbilisi, skiing in the mountains, Black Sea beaches and ancient architecture.
“These are places that are still being discovered,” says Arlt, who will publish a book on the next wave of China’s outbound tourism later this month.
“Paris isn’t impressive anymore. If you tell your friends you’ve been to Albania, they will think you’re very special. That you have taste and a sense of adventure.”
Shifts in travel styles
According to Trip.com Group, Chinese travelers are gravitating towards small groups and independent travel, rather than large tours, and paying more attention to sustainability.
Arlt has observed the same trends.
“There are big changes in the demand and expectations of Chinese outbound travelers,” he says. “Young people in China are very interested in sustainability and green topics, as China is also suffering under the consequences of climate change.”
According to a 2022 Dragon Trail survey, 48.3% of prospective travelers said they would choose accommodation with environmentally friendly operations, 45.5% will choose cruelty-free ways to see wild animals and 37.9% will personally contribute to the local environment by picking up trash or cycling instead of driving.
What’s more, the top reasons to travel overseas were to “try local food” (60.8%), “experience local life” (56%) and “visit beach and sea” (51.8%).
But not everything has changed when it comes to what Chinese travelers want.
“Many post-pandemic trends and preferences in Chinese travel show continuity with (those) developing before the pandemic. Nature and outdoor activities, self-driving (renting cars for road trips), and a shift from large group tours to independent travel are all examples of this,” says Parulis-Cook.
“Seeking out open spaces and nature has been very popular during the pandemic — driven by the desire to get out of cities or away from crowds — but that was a major draw for Chinese outbound tourists before Covid, too.”
For example, a chance to stargaze or experience the aurora (or polar lights) was something that attracted Chinese travelers to places like Norway, Peru, Canada and New Zealand before the pandemic.
“One activity that really took off in China during the Covid era in a way they hadn’t before, is glamping,” she adds. “Glamping and camping was a fresh way to travel locally and be in nature during the pandemic, and it also became a trend on Chinese social media.”
Given its popularity in China, Parulis-Cook would not be surprised if travelers try glamping in places like Japan or Thailand, where local operators have already been advertising to netizens on Chinese social media.
There’s also an appetite for more long-term travel, such as living, studying or pursuing a career abroad, says Arlt.
“A lot of people will travel to different places to decide if they want to move to Singapore, London, Toronto or Sydney. These people probably will be (among the first to travel again).”
Hurdles to entry
The World Health Organization has accused China of “underrepresenting” the severity of its Covid outbreak as top global health officials urge Beijing to share more data about the explosive spread. CNN’s Ivan Watson reports.
Given that China accounted for roughly 14% of the $1.8 trillion in global tourism spending in 2019, many destinations have anxiously awaited the return of the country’s travelers.
But just before China’s reopening, a flurry of entry restrictions and screenings came into effect. The US, Canada, Japan, Australia, India, Italy, the UK and France, among others, have announced plans to require a negative Covid-19 test before departure due to the country’s ongoing wave of infections.
Since China abandoned its zero-Covid policy and began partially reopening late last year, the subsequent Covid outbreak has overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums, and triggered shortages of basic medicines. While the wave may have already peaked in some major cities, rural areas with fewer resources could be hit hard in January, with widespread domestic travel expected during the Lunar New Year holiday period.
Some studies estimate China’s Covid death toll could be in excess of a million if it fails to roll out booster shots and antiviral drugs fast enough.
The World Health Organization has advised against travel restrictions on countries experiencing Covid-19 outbreaks in the past but said it was “understandable” in this case due to a lack of transparent information, and encouraged China to share more data.
In response to the travel restrictions/screenings, International Air Transport Association Director General Willie Walsh issued a statement on January 4, admonishing countries for reinstating measures that have “proven ineffective” while “the virus is already circulating widely within their borders.”
“We have the tools to manage Covid-19 without resorting to ineffective measures that cut off international connectivity, damage economies and destroy jobs,” he says.
Parulis-Cook also expressed concerns about the consequences of targeted entry requirements.
“When travel restrictions are country-specific — travelers from China, India or South Africa, to give some examples from the past years — rather than universal, they are much more effective in creating stigma than preventing the spread of Covid,” she says.
“Chinese travelers will have a lot of choices for their first outbound trip, and destinations without any entry restrictions will appeal to them as friendlier and easier to travel to.”
Arlt offers a different perspective.
“I see all this discussion that Chinese travelers will feel uncomfortable having to do a test before departure to many destinations and will prefer destinations which do not ask for a test,” he says.
“Actually, they are not only used to testing and getting tests for free in China, they will also be happy to know that all the other passengers in their airplane have tested negatively as well.”
Travelers rush to take advantage of China reopening
BEIJING (AP) — After two years of separation from his wife in mainland China, Hong Kong resident Cheung Seng-bun made sure to be among the first in line following the reopening of border crossing points Sunday.
The ability of residents of the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city to cross over is one of the most visible signs of China’s easing of border restrictions, with travelers arriving from abroad also no longer required to undergo quarantine.
“I’m hurrying to get back to her,” Cheung, lugging a heavy suitcase, told The Associated Press as he prepared to cross at Lok Ma Chau station.
Travelers crossing between Hong Kong and mainland China, however, are still required to show a negative COVID-19 test taken within the last 48 hours — a measure China has protested when imposed by other countries.
Hong Kong has been hard-hit by the virus, and its land and sea border checkpoints with the mainland have been largely closed for almost three years. Despite the risk of new infections, the reopening that will allow tens of thousands of people who have made prior online bookings to cross each day is expected to provide a much-needed boost to Hong Kong’s tourism and retail sectors.
On a visit to the station Sunday morning, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee said the sides would continue to expand the number of crossing points from the current seven to the full 14.
“The goal is to get back as quickly as possible to the pre-epidemic normal life,” Lee told reporters. “We want to get cooperation between the two sides back on track.”
Communist Party newspaper Global Times quoted Tan Luming, a port official in Shenzhen on the border with Hong Kong, saying about 200 passengers were expected to take the ferry to Hong Kong, while another 700 were due to travel in the other direction, on the first day of reopening. Tan said a steady increase in passenger numbers is expected over coming days.
“I stayed up all night and got up at 4:00 a.m. as I’m so excited to return to the mainland to see my 80-year-old mother,” a Hong Kong woman identified only by her surname, Cheung, said on arrival at Shenzhen, where she was presented with “roses and health kits,” the paper said.
Hong Kong media reports said around 300,000 travel bookings from the city to mainland China have already been made.
Limited ferry service had also been restored from China’s Fujian province to the Taiwanese-controlled island of Kinmen just off the Chinese coast.
The border crossing with Russia at Suifenhe in the far northern province of Heilongjiang also resumed normal operations, just in time for the opening of the ice festival in the capital of Harbin, a major tourism draw.
China’s borders remain largely sealed, however, with only a fraction of the previous number of international flights arriving at major airports.
Beijing’s main Capital International Airport was expecting eight flights from overseas on Sunday, according to the airport. Shanghai, China’s largest city, received its first international flight under the new policy at 6:30 a.m. with only a trickle of other international flights to follow.
That number is expected now to tick upward, with booking inquiries for overseas flights overwhelming some online travel services ahead of the Lunar New Year travel rush later this month. Capital International is preparing to reopen arrival halls that have been quiet for most of the past three years.
Shanghai, meanwhile, announced it would again start issuing regular passports to Chinese for foreign travel and family visits, as well as renewing and extending visas for foreigners. Those restrictions have had a particularly devastating effect on foreign businesspeople and students in the key Asian financial center.
China is now facing a surge in cases and hospitalizations in major cities and is bracing for a further spread into less developed areas with the start of China’s most important holiday of the year, set to get underway in coming days.
Authorities say they expect domestic rail and air journeys will double over the same period last year, bringing overall numbers close to those of the 2019 holiday period before the pandemic hit.
Meanwhile, the controversy continues over testing requirements being imposed on Chinese travelers by foreign governments — most recently Germany and Sweden. On Saturday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged citizens to avoid “unnecessary” travel to China, noting the rise in coronavirus cases in the country and saying that China’s Health system is “overburdened.”
The German regulation also allows for spot checks on arrival and Germany, like other European nations, will test wastewater from aircrafts for possible new virus variants. The measures come into force at midnight Monday and are due to last until April 7.
Apparently concerned about its reputation, China says the testing requirements aren’t science-based and has threatened unspecified countermeasures.
Chinese health authorities publish a daily count of new cases, severe cases and deaths, but those numbers include only officially confirmed cases and use a very narrow definition of COVID-19-related deaths.
Authorities say that since the government ended compulsory testing and permitted people with mild symptoms to test themselves and convalesce at home, it can no longer provide a full picture of the state of the latest outbreak.
Government spokespeople have said the situation is under control and reject accusations from the World Health Organization and others that it is not being transparent about the number of cases and deaths or providing other crucial information on the nature of the current outbreak that could lead to the emergence of new variants.
Despite such assertions, the Health Commission on Saturday rolled out regulations for strengthened monitoring of viral mutations, including testing of urban wastewater. The lengthy rules called for increased data gathering from hospitals and local government health departments and stepped-up checks on “pneumonia of unknown causes.”
Criticism has largely focused on heavy-handed enforcement of regulations, including open-ended travel restrictions that saw people confined to their homes for weeks, sometimes sealed inside without adequate food or medical care.
Anger was also vented over the requirement that anyone who potentially tested positive or had been in contact with such a person be confined for observation in a field hospital, where overcrowding, poor food and hygiene were commonly cited.
The social and economic costs eventually prompted rare street protests in Beijing and other cities, possibly influencing the Communist Party’s decision to swiftly ease the strictest measures and reprioritize growth.
As part of the latest changes, China will also no longer bring criminal charges against people accused of violating border quarantine regulations, according to a notice issued by five government departments on Saturday.
Individuals currently in custody will be released and seized assets returned, the notice said.
The Transportation Ministry on Friday called on travelers to reduce trips and gatherings, particularly if they involve elderly people, pregnant women, small children and those with underlying conditions.
___
Associated Press reporters Alice Fung and Karmen Li in Hong Kong and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.
Chinese travelers are ready to go overseas again. Some countries are hesitant
Hong Kong (CNN) — A surging Covid outbreak in China. Countries imposing travel restrictions on Chinese travelers, wary of the virus being imported. Scientists warning against fearmongering and xenophobia.
But this isn’t early 2020. The familiar scene is playing out now as China battles its biggest-ever outbreak, after abandoning its stringent zero-Covid approach and partially reopening its border three years into the pandemic.
The country announced this week it will drop quarantine requirements for international arrivals and resume outbound travel for Chinese citizens, which had previously been banned. It prompted a surge of eager travelers booking flights out of the country, hungry for a trip after several years of isolation — but it also sparked concern among some overseas governments as China’s Covid cases skyrocket.
Almost half of the 212 passengers who arrived in Italy’s Milan airport from China on Monday tested positive for Covid, said a regional health chief on Wednesday.
But while countries including the US and Japan move to impose restrictions, others such France and Great Britain have made it clear they are ready to welcome Chinese travelers — who, pre-pandemic, had been a major driver of international tourism.
Which countries are imposing testing requirements?
Japan announced on Tuesday that all travelers who have either been to mainland China or have traveled there within seven days will be tested on arrival starting Friday, and that the government would limit the number of flights to and from China.
The country’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, pointed to the lack of official Chinese government data. “While there is information that the infection is spreading rapidly in mainland China, concern has been growing in Japan as it is difficult to grasp the detailed situation,” he said.
Indian authorities implemented similar guidelines on travelers not only from China, but also several nearby locations including Japan, South Korea and Thailand. The guidelines are aimed at ensuring that Covid doesn’t spread quickly as it has in China, authorities said Tuesday.
Taiwan also announced mandatory tests on arrival for travelers coming from mainland China on Wednesday. The self-ruling island has banned mainland Chinese tourists since the pandemic, and only allows Chinese citizens to visit for business or family reasons.
In all three places, those found positive on arrival will be required to quarantine for several days.
Meanwhile, the United States announced it will require a pre-departure negative test result for travelers from China, including Hong Kong and Macao — as well as popular third-country gateways such as Seoul, Toronto and Vancouver.
People walk with suitcases through a departure lobby the Beijing airport on December 27.
KYDPL KYODO/AP
The measures are particularly striking given most of these places — especially in the West — have long reopened their borders and abandoned testing requirements as part of the transition to living with Covid. China responded on Wednesday by claiming its Covid situation was “under control,” and accused Western media of “distorting” its recent policy changes.
In Europe, Italy — the first country on the continent to be hit by a widespread outbreak in 2020 — announced it would require Covid tests for all travelers coming from China, with the health minister saying it was essential to identify “any variants … in order to protect the Italian population.”
European Union health security officials will also meet on Thursday to discuss the China outbreak and any “possible measures,” said the EU Commission on Twitter.
So are variants a risk?
Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, acknowledged the risk of a new variant emerging in “unvaccinated populations.”
“Even though (in China) officially they have 90% of the population vaccinated with two doses of the inactivated vaccines, you still have a large percentage of the elderly who are not vaccinated … and many of the people who are vaccinated did so more than six months ago, so their antibody levels already are very low,” he said. “So we can’t rule out the possibility that new variants can indeed emerge in China and spread to other parts of the world.”
One federal US health official pointed to the speed of the outbreak in China, saying: “With so many people in China being infected in a short period of time, there is a chance and probability that a new variant will emerge.”
US officials have also expressed concerns about China’s lack of transparency surrounding the recent surge in cases, particularly the absence of genome sequencing information that could help detect new strains of the coronavirus.
However, GISEAD, a global virus database, said Chinese authorities had been submitting more genomic information from recent samples — and that these seem to match the variants that are already circulating globally.
Karen Grepin, an associate professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, said a country’s best defense against potential variants was to focus on domestic policies protecting its own population — such as stepping up vaccinations, maintaining social distancing and other basic public health measures.
“In a lot of parts of the world, the pandemic feels like it’s over … but at the end of the day, (these measures) are ultimately what prevents the transmission of the virus,” she said.
“If countries are at the point where they think those things are no longer important, because for example they’ve developed so much population immunity, then why care about a couple of new cases coming in from China?”
Are the measures effective?
Despite the potential risk, many health experts have widely criticized the new testing requirements as ineffective at best and alarmist at worst.
“I don’t see any convincing reason to justify this move,” said Huang, from the Council on Foreign Relations. “So far we don’t have any evidence supporting whether there are indeed such variants emerging in mainland China.”
“I can understand concerns because of the lack of transparency, because of the lack of sharing of the genomic sequencing,” he added. “But even with a ban, we cannot prevent the spread of the virus. And assuming there is indeed new variants emerging in mainland China, we would just delay the spread, we’re not going to prevent the virus from spreading to other parts of the world.”
Grepin echoed this point, saying: “In reality, we do not have the scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of these measures in practice.”
If an infectious variant does emerge, it will likely enter the United States through other countries anyway, she said, pointing out that restrictions “did very little” when Omicron emerged last fall.
Pre-departure testing — which the US is requiring — is also only somewhat effective, since many new variants have a short incubation period, meaning “there will still be cases that will make it through,” she added.
Political pressure and xenophobia
There are a few reasons why countries may be imposing these restrictions despite their questionable use, Grepin said — one being the fear that Chinese Covid patients could be fleeing elsewhere to seek treatment with hospitals at home completely overwhelmed.
But, she added, this is quite unlikely. The volume of travel coming out of China is still extremely low, partly due to the limited number of flights. And at the rate Covid is spreading, it would pose a logistical challenge for infected patients to immediately get visas and book flights overseas.
Instead, the recent flurry of restrictions likely reflects the “political pressure (on authorities) to look like they’re doing something,” she said. “We see one country do it and then other countries follow suit.”
Medical staff treat patients in a hospital in Jiangsu, China, on December 28.
CFOTO/Future Publishing /Getty Images
Experts are also warning that singling out China could heighten the risk of greater anti-Chinese racism, as seen early in the pandemic when Asians around the world faced discrimination and violent hate crimes.
China isn’t the only place seeing an uptick in cases, said Huang. “I don’t see why China should be treated differently from other countries like Australia, for example, which is swimming in Covid,” he added.
The US is likely importing tens of thousands of cases from around the world even now, said Grepin, adding that 1 to 3% of all international travelers have Covid — so there’s little point in specifically targeting Covid coming from one country.
“We’ve seen this throughout the pandemic — when certain measures are being targeted at people coming from a particular place, it reinforces stereotypes or beliefs that viruses are coming from certain parts of the world … It’s just simply not true,” she said.
Which countries are welcoming Chinese travelers back?
By contrast, many countries have thrown open their doors in welcome.
The tourism departments and embassies of France, Thailand, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Switzerland all posted messages on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, inviting Chinese tourists.
“Chinese friends, France welcomes you with open arms!” the French embassy wrote on Weibo. The Thai national tourism administration wrote: “Thailand has been waiting for you for three years!”
Many Weibo users celebrated their newfound freedom to travel, with the hashtag “Where to travel abroad next year” garnering close to 80 million views.
Before the pandemic, China was the world’s largest market for outbound travel, having skyrocketed from 4.5 million travelers in 2000 to 150 million in 2018. The country is also the world’s largest spender, accounting for $277 billion or 16% of the world’s total $1.7 trillion international tourism spending, according to the UN’s World Tourism Organization.
China alone contributed 51% of the travel and tourism GDP in the Asia-Pacific region in 2018, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. And Chinese travelers typically accounted for 30% of all arrivals in Thailand.
CNN’s Cheng Cheng, Pierre Meilhan, Kevin Liptak, Valentina Di Donato, Eric Cheung, Emi Jozuka and CNN’s Beijing bureau contributed reporting.