The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has lifted its requirement that visitors test negative for COVID-19 before entering the country, effect for U.S.-bound air travellers at midnight on Sunday, June 12.

The travel industry has been lobbying for months for the requirement to be lifted, especially after many major source markets including Canada, Mexico and the UK removed the pre-departure testing requirement for visitors arriving by air.

It was a major topic at the recent IPW, with the U.S. Travel Association estimating that removing the pre-departure COVID testing requirement would result in 5.4 million more international visitors in 2022.

The industry and many medical experts have argued that the policy is out of date for months, especially after pre-departure testing for those arriving by land was no longer required.

Roger Dow, president of the U.S. Travel Association, asked IPW delegates: “Is COVID really so smart that it attacks people in planes but not in cars? There’s just no logic here.”