pandemic travel

“Vaccine Passports”: A Panacea for Pandemic Travel?

Published January 26, 2021 | By Clark Norton

Kyoto women in traditional garb. — When can we return to currently closed-off countries like Japan? Vaccine passports may help. Photo by Clark Norton

After a year when the COVID-19 virus has devastated the world’s tourism industry and thwarted vacation plans of millions of travelers, vaccinations have arrived that offer hope that 2021 may usher in some return to normalcy.

And none too soon for baby boomers, who have seen precious travel time and opportunities slipping away: cruises cancelled, tours postponed, bucket-list destinations closing their borders.

The fact that all this has been necessary to curb the ravages of the killer virus doesn’t make it any less painful — especially when you factor in the economic toll on tourism-dependent destinations. Estimates are that one in ten jobs worldwide are travel- and tourism-related.

And it’s not just airlines, cruise lines and big hotels that are hurting. As Scott Keyes, CEO of Scott’s Cheap Flights, puts it:… Continue reading →

Posted in Airline travel, apps, Baby boomer travel, health, travel economic impacts, travel health, Travel safety, Uncategorized | Tagged Covid-19 travel, Covid-19 vaccines, pandemic travel, Scott's Cheap Flights, Travel restrictions, Vaccine passports | Leave a comment

Escaping from a New Zealand Lockdown

Published May 9, 2020 | By Clark Norton

Waterfalls empty into beautiful Milford Sound on New Zealand’s south island. Photo by Jade Chan

Among our far-flung correspondents is Jade Chan, who writes for The Star, an English-language newspaper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Jade was on vacation in New Zealand just days and hours before that country — as well as Malaysia and Australia (where she had to transit) — severely limited travel to combat the coronavirus threat. Getting home was something of a trial — “I was ‘saved by the bell,'” as she puts it — but at least she wasn’t stranded for weeks on a cruise ship.

I’ll let Jade take it from here (note that a somewhat different version of this piece originally appeared in The Star).

By Jade Chan

My family had planned for a holiday in New Zealand more than half a year ago, and departed for the Land of the… Continue reading →

Posted in airports, Asia, Australia, Baby boomer travel, New Zealand, travel fears, travel mishaps | Tagged coronavirus travel, Covid-19 travel, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, New Zealand, New Zealand travel, pandemic travel, traveling during pandemic | Leave a comment

According to government and private surveys:

Leading-edge baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and seniors account for four out of every five dollars spent on luxury travel today.
Roughly half the consumer spending money in the U.S.--more than $2 trillion--is in the hands of leading-edge baby boomers and seniors.
Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) travel more than any other age group.
When asked what they would most like to spend their money on, baby boomers answered “travel” more than any other category, including improving their health or finances.