Skift Take
An ever-growing roster of countries placing new testing requirements on Chinese travelers is sparking an outcry, particularly across Europe, but any calls to scale back pre-departure requirements will likely fall on deaf ears.
The recent relaxation of zero-Covid policies in China offered great hope to a corporate travel industry stymied by those rules and one waiting to bring China back into the fold to speed up its recovery. But the ensuing testing requirements being put in place now by countries will be a major setback and dent much-needed confidence, industry associations warn.
They believe that the growing number of restrictions on Chinese travelers represents a step backwards, ahead of an imminent proposal by the European Commission that could impose pre-departure Covid-19 testing on all 27 member countries.
On Wednesday, the commission's Political Crisis Response unit met to thrash out the coordination of possible requirements for entry into the EU. The overwhelming majority of countries are in favor of pre-departure testing, according to reports.
“We are once again plunging back into a patchwork of unjustified and uncoordinated travel restrictions, which have no basis in scientific fact,” said Olivier Jankovec, director general of Airports Council International Europe.
Coordinated RestrictionsJapan also recently tightened its border controls for the neighboring country — ahead of the key date of Jan. 8, after which travelers will no longer need to quarantine w