The U.S. Travel Association has penned a letter urging the White House to alleviate the remaining Covid-19 travel restrictions and not to extend the mask requirement for travel beyond April 18.
The group demanded an immediate end to pre-departure testing for all fully vaccinated international travelers and an end to travel warnings and travel bans.
“It makes little sense to keep the pre-departure testing requirement in place for inbound air travelers when the U.S. government does not require negative tests at U.S-Canada and U.S.-Mexico land border points of entry,” wrote U.S. Travel Chief Executive Roger Dow.
The White House was also requested to set benchmarks and deadlines for a road to a new normal, by June 1.
The association expects the government to announce “a plan and timeline to repeal the federal mask mandate within the subsequent 90 days.”
Finally, they want the White House to convey a strong statement to Americans and the “rest of the world” that it is safe to travel again, particularly for those who have been vaccinated.
“Much has changed since these measures were imposed and they no longer make sense in the current public health context,” the letter reads.
This is not the first time organizations have requested the White House to loosen travel restrictions.
The United States Travel Association and Airlines for America had sent another letter to White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients on Feb. 2 asking for an end to compulsory testing for all overseas tourists.
With Covid-19 cases on the rise again across Europe, the US administration may find it difficult to relax all travel restrictions in the coming weeks.