Destinations knownAsia-Pacific travel is reopening but Russia’s restricted air space is adding to climate woes and pushing up the price of tickets
- More countries are accepting tourists who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 without insisting on quarantines, including Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam
- Flights between East and West are having to take long reroutes to avoid Russian air space, burning significantly more fuel and pushing up the cost of tickets
There’s good news and there’s bad news.
The good news, as far as tourism goes, is that an increasing number of countries are accepting tourists who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 without insisting on quarantines.
China and Japan may still be closed but Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines and Singapore are among those that have laid out the welcome mat for tourists – at least from specified, significant markets – in the past few weeks. Malaysia and South Korea will join their ranks on April 1.
Australia has reopened and New Zealand, after allowing in Australians on April 12, has said those from many other countries can visit from May 2. The above countries join Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Maldives, which have been back in business for longer.
“The pandemic seems to be over for travellers,” announced a recent headline on the Australian-based Traveller website. “Look further afield [than Asia-Pacific] and you find even fewer regulations and requirements,” writes Ben Groundwater, the author of the article.