As predicted, summer 2022 was a hectic travel season with many travellers unleashing pent-up frustrations when restrictions were removed.
This ‘revenge travel’ as it’s been coined, shows no signs of slowing down as winter approaches. The US Transportation Security Administration counted nearly 2.5 million passengers on Sunday, the highest daily figure since February 2020, according to The Washington Post.
The coronavirus is still present, continuing to interfere with travel plans and now health officials are warning another winter surge could come and new strains in the mix.
A surge in Europe looks likely; cases rose by 104 % in Portugal and 42 % in Switzerland over the past week, while the virus has also increased in France, Italy, Germany and Austria, according to The Washington Post’s coronavirus tracker.
The World Health Organization and European Center for Disease Prevention and Control have warned that the continent is probably entering a new covid wave, which will coincide with a resurgence in the flu.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom; for young, healthy people who are fully vaccinated, ”most travel is safe”, according to Henry Wu, an associate professor of medicine at Emory University and director of the Emory TravelWell Center.
Elderly and immunocompromised individuals, however, might want to consider shifting their plans to avoid crowded areas and countries without high-quality medical care, even if they are vaccinated, Mr Wu said. Ahead of winter, he recommended travellers look for locales with milder weather that allows them to eat outdoors.
