As we move into the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, I am cautiously optimistic about the resumption of travel. Our daily lives have changed, our expectations have changed, travel has changed. What has not changed is the human yearning for new experiences – and to return to familiar places where one feels welcome.
HE Travel has weathered the storm and we are ready to move forward with you as the world gradually (albeit unevenly) reopens to travelers!
Travel will open first within countries. Next will be “travel corridors” between countries with low rates of new cases of COVID-19. We will see frequent adjustments in border crossing protocols as more people get vaccinated, and as the incidence of COVID-19 goes down. These are our current expectations for destinations where HE Travel offers tours.
There are currently few restrictions for Americans within the mainland United States. We expect our summer Grand Canyon and Salmon River rafting trips to sell out. (Salmon Rafting is waitlist only)
As well as our autumn land tour to Northern New Mexico & Southwestern Colorado. Along with our new SW Colorado Dude Ranch Tour.
Hawaii’s strict testing has kept the disease incidence low. A vaccinations increase, we expect to see relaxed standards well before our October adventure tour on Kauai.
Canada remains closed to visitors, but Mexico has kept its doors open. We successfully ran a tour to Mexico City in December and will add a Yucatan tour in January.
Iceland has done a fantastic job of keeping its case count low. We are excited to offer a new tour to the rugged West Fjords region in August.
Travel to mainland Europe will be more challenging. We are hoping that we can comfortably offer our European tours this fall. We will continue to monitor each country very closely. Nearby Israel has the highest vaccination rate in the world. This should allow them to welcome visitors from other highly vaccinated countries by the time of our October Israel tour.
In South America, we navigated testing requirements for our Galapagos Multisport Land Tour in early March, and it is looking great for our Galapagos Cruise in June as well. Peru has also opened to visitors! We expect that Argentina and Brazil will not be open to visitors until much later this year.
COVID rates remain low in most of Africa, so barring changes, we fully anticipate that our Namibia and Egypt tours will operate as planned later this year.
Japan will be closed to Olympics spectators this summer, but we expect them to welcome international visitors by our October 2021 tour.
New Zealand and Australia have been oases on the worldwide map. However, they are currently closed to travelers, but this has allowed them to reopen for their own residents. We expect they will welcome visitors well before our next tours there in early 2022.
Each of us must make our own decisions as to when to hit the road again. When you are ready to travel, we will be ready to welcome you on a tour or help you plan a memorable personal adventure!
