Biden to make international travelers quarantine. How will Miami’s tourism industry cope?
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President Joe Biden announced Thursday that international travelers to the U.S. will soon be required to quarantine upon arrival.
The new measure, along with a mask mandate for all interstate transportation including airports, airplanes, trains, buses and ships, is part of an executive order signed Thursday to combat the spread of COVID-19, which continues to claim thousands of American lives each day.
“We are instituting now a new measure for individuals flying into the United States from other countries,” Biden said Thursday. “In addition to wearing a mask, everyone flying to the United States will need to test before they get on that plane...and quarantine when they arrive in America.”
The executive order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Homeland Security to promptly present a plan to the president about how best to implement the rule. Current CDC guidelines recommend people get tested for COVID-19 three to five days after international travel and stay home for seven days. Starting on Jan. 26, the CDC will require travelers to provide a negative COVID-19 test before coming to the U.S.
The impact of the new quarantine rule on Miami-Dade’s fragile tourism industry may be minimal, said Rolando Aedo, chief operating officer of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Miami-Dade county’s tourism marketing agency, and could boost consumer confidence among domestic travelers.
“Whatever happens that will mitigate the spread of the virus while aggressively expanding the vaccinations will support traveler confidence,” he said. “That’s what’s going to fuel our recovery.”
As many as one-third of the total overnight visitors to Miami-Dade prior to the pandemic were international visitors, according to research from the CVB. International leisure travelers tend to stay less than 14 days — the traditional time for quarantine.
But foreign travel to Miami-Dade is down. In November, international travelers made up 39% of passengers that passed through Miami International Airport, down from 48% the year prior, according to airport statistics.
“If it’s mostly international inbound travel, the practical impact of that right now is minimal because our international travel is minimal now,” Aedo said. The CVB has focused its marketing efforts on domestic travelers.
