Our Canadian friends are sure being unfriendly

Canada has locked down their borders with the U.S. for over a year now because of COVID. Canada has basically killed the Alaska cruise industry for 2021 as most ships depart or stop at Canadian ports of call. Every month they continue to extend their border closure one more month, with the next target date being July 21, 2021. Compare this to our friends in Mexico who have had the “Open” sign up through the whole pandemic. I hope the government of Canada will soon let Americans visit their beautiful country. It’s about time! CLICK HERE to read more.

Some countries are eliminating COVID vaccination requirements to get a tourism jump on other countries – I receive daily calls from people asking where they can travel outside the U.S. if they are not vaccinated. It appears that some countries are realizing that upwards of 140 million Americans have not been vaccinated, and millions of them will be looking to travel to countries that do not require COVID vaccinations.  Just this past week, Spain joined Portugal and other countries by announcing that only testing is required to enter, not vaccination. Even the airlines are seeing this and are adding flights this summer to countries not requiring vaccinations. It will be interesting to see how fast and how many countries move from requiring vaccination to no vaccination this summer as all those tourist dollars flow into “green light” countries. We have a great place on our website www.executivetravel.com under the COVID 19 tab that provides you with multiple resources to find out what countries require for entrance or simply CLICK HERE to zip you there fast.

Many Americans also tell me they will not fly until the airlines remove the mask requirement – It appears several U.S. Senators have heard your voices, and they are pushing the CDC and the administration to eliminate the requiring of masks on flights if a person is vaccinated. In May, the CDC said that fully vaccinated Americans could stop wearing masks in most indoor spaces except on airplanes. The requirement to wear a mask has been extended through September 13. Common sense tells me that if a person is vaccinated, it would appear they have a low risk of giving or getting COVID. Let’s let common sense prevail here. CLICK HERE to read more. 

The cost of a business trip is now $1230 – Our friends at Cornerstone Information Systems provide us monthly data from travel companies that shows the total cost for a business trip in May was $1230 without adding in food and beverage. Of this amount, the average airline ticket was $500, with hotel costs being $487 and car rental $243. I think companies coming out of COVID will now more than ever try to move training and internal meetings to video platforms and avoid these travel costs. Sales, conventions, and customer-facing events will probably be the main reasons to maintain travel in the future. I also think companies will try to cut some of these costs by shortening the days traveling, thus reducing the hotel and car rental costs by up to one-third.

Here is a great video that tells our story on our commitment to being the best travel management company – Everything we do is tied to our core value of urgency. When Executive Travel says they are the fastest TMC (Travel Management Company) in the industry, we mean that all our services put the highest priority on the speed and ease of doing business with us. CLICK HERE for our 60-second video.

Travel with us to Greece! – Greece is welcoming back American travelers and seems to be among the safest countries to visit this year with a great Covid-19 protocol in place. Our popular “Footsteps of Apostle Paul” journeys are filling up at the speed of light. Do not hesitate to secure your spot. The first trip takes off this September 15-24, is hosted by our Women of the Midwest small-group tour concept, and only two spots are available. In 2022 we offer two departures; May 4-14 (with Women of the Midwest), and June 1-10, hosted by Fr. Brendan Kelly (mixed-gender departure). Travel through the ruins of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires, travel the roads where Paul, Silas, Lydia, and countless other names from the Bible, had traversed. Experience UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the rock-monasteries of Meteora, Delphi, The Parthenon, Ancient Corinth, and top off with a 4-day cruise to some of the most beautiful islands in the world. It doesn’t get much better than this! Call or email Beth at our friendly group department today for more information, (402) 858-0033 / GroupDepartment@executivetravel.com.