MILWAUKEE — The travel and tourism industries have struggled a lot since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last March. 

Marty Piette, the Airport Director for Green Bay Austin Straubel International says recently, things have started to get better.

“The good news is that we’re seeing a steady increase each month since then, Piette said. “We’re still down between 40 to 50% passenger traffic wise, but still outperforming the national average, which is still down about 60%.”

What You Need To Know

  • The CDC announced new travel guidelines for fully vaccinated Americans on Friday

  • If traveling within the United States, fully vaccinated Americans do not need a to have a COVID-19 test or self-quarantine upon return

  • The CDC urges fully vaccinated Americans who are traveling to continue to wear masks and social distance

  • International travel guidance hasn’t changed, and non-essential travel is not advised

On Friday, The Centers for Disease Control announced some welcome news for the travel industry. 

Fully vaccinated Americans who are wanting to travel - as long as they continue to mask up and follow social distancing guidelines - can proceed with caution. 

“For domestic travel, fully vaccinated people do not need to get a COVID-19 test before or after travel, and do not need to self-quarantine after travel,” said CDC Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky. 

“We in the travel industry are applauding the cdc for moving forward,” said Rose Gray of Fox World Travel. “Truthfully, as excited as we are about the news, we’re hoping to see more of this.”

Gray doesn’t think it’ll have too much of an impact on people who are comfortable traveling despite their vaccination status. 

“The CDC never required that you do that quarantining, and truthfully, I don’t know how many people did that quarantining,” Gray said. “I would hazard to guess, and say few.”

International travel restrictions on Americans haven’t been changed. Neither have restrictions for Americans traveling to some states like Hawaii, which requires a negative COVID-19 test or a 10-day quarantine before entering. 

Another thing? The CDC is still urging people to not travel at all if the travel isn’t essential. 

“Are we talking about a personal choice here? What’s non-essential,” asked Gray. “I haven’t seen my grandchildren in well over a year. I’m fully vaccinated. I’m going to see them. Is that non-essential travel? It’s very personal and many people are taking it upon themselves to make those decisions."

Piette said it’ll be a long time until travel is really “back to normal.” The federal government requires masks to be worn on airport properties and on board planes. 

He said airports, like Green Bay, will continue to add more technologies to deep clean and sanitize to make sure everyone stays safe. 

“I think we’ll continue to do this for the foreseeable future, if not forever,” Piette said. 

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