More than 40 US mayors join calls for pre-departure testing axe

A bipartisan group of mayors from across the US has joined calls for the Biden administration to remove the requirement for vaccinated arrivals to test before departure.

A joint letter from the mayors was sent in addition to individual calls from the mayors of Houston, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Philadelphia, and echoes industry efforts including an appeal last month from more than 260 US travel businesses.

Speaking at the IPW Conference in Orlando this week, US Travel Association chief executive Roger Dow described the requirements as “arcane” and said the industry needed to step up its lobbying for their removal.

On Tuesday, US Travel executive vice-president of public affairs and policy Tori Emerson Barnes testified on the need to end the requirements at a hearing held by the US Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade and Export Promotion.

In the joint letter, the mayors of cities including Miami, New York and San Francisco outlined the challenges of reclaiming lost international visitors, and argued the testing requirement “makes little sense considering that nearly all other sectors of the US economy are operating without a testing requirement”.

Speaking at IPW, Los Angeles Tourism chief executive Adam Burke said the testing requirement had undoubtedly held back demand and predicted it would be removed by the end of the month.

He said: “I would be amazed if it isn’t gone by the 4th of July.”