It’s time to pull out your passport.
The European Union has agreed to loosen travel restrictions for fully vaccinated tourists.
The European Council has now agreed to recommend that member countries once again allow vacation travel, although it is not clear when those restrictions might be eased as individual countries will need to formalize the change.
But Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, says this bodes well for the usually busy summer travel season.
"The good news is for folks who have been able to get their shots, who are fully vaccinated, it seems like Europe travel will be open for you this summer and you can expect to be able to take those trips that so many of us have been putting off for the past year."
It is a big reversal from last summer when many countries prohibited Americans from entering because of climbing cases.
Now, with vaccinations as high as 76% in parts of the Bay Area, the "Bienvenue, entrez vous" mat is out.
Keyes says this is also welcome news to the travel industry.
"There has been a lot of uncertainty about whether or not this summer travel season – which is so important for folks who work in travel, especially in southern Europe – was going to happen this year,” he said.
“If we missed another summer travel season like we did this past year, that could have been an existential crisis for a lot of folks working in travel, a lot of people who rely on tourists to put food on the table. So I think this announcement from the EU that the summer travel season will likely not only happen but include vaccinated Americans I think is giving folks a lot of excitement and confidence for these upcoming months."
The EU is expected to start using a Digital Green Certificate for its own residents to store their vaccination information, but it is not clear if that system will also be put in place for travelers.
And with some European countries lagging behind in vaccinations, it is not known just what the conditions will be for travelers this summer.
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