COVID-19: Delta variant stalls Israel's grand reopening to tourists

It is a sign that the air transport industry is returning to normal when airlines are taking their respective countries to court to try to encourage more tourism. Far less encouraging is when the Health Ministry releases a document warning all passengers that if anyone on their plane is diagnosed with the Delta variant of COVID-19, everyone on board must go into quarantine. Yes, vaccinated or not, or recovered from COVID-19, into quarantine you must go.

Israir Airline must feel like the odd man out since it has brought a suit before Israel’s Supreme Court asserting that the government’s decision to charge every single person entering Israel for a COVID-19 test upon entry is injurious and unwarranted. Israel already requires every single person, vaccinated or not, to undertake a PCR test within 72 hours upon flying into Israel. However, the state also requires another nasal swab at Ben-Gurion Airport’s latest lab, TestnGo at the passenger’s expense. The kicker for those not vaccinated in Israel is the third obstacle, a mandatory serological test which still cannot be arranged at Ben-Gurion Airport.

While PCR tests are nasal swabs which may cause mild discomfort, the serological test is a blood test that is quite costly; and while waiting for the results, which can take up to 24 hours, the passenger must stay in quarantine. So, it is a PCR test within 72 hours of flying into Israel, another COVID-19 test upon arrival, and then, for those who did not vaccinate, a serological test coupled with a short quarantine.

I know Israel is supposed to be a light unto the nations, but must we be the only country in the entire world with such draconian demands to fly into Israel?

What do our health professionals know that not one of their colleagues in countries small and large do not? Large countries like the United States require anyone over the age of two to provide a COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their arrival. That is it. No test upon arrival; no quarantine for any visitors. Show that negative result, and Lady Liberty allows you in.

WHILE VACCINATED groups into Israel are now allowed, tourism professionals are waiting for the new health minister to work with the tourism minister to follow through on the promise that, come later this summer, individual tourists will be allowed in.

Initially planned for July 1, the government decided to postpone reopening the country to individual tourists until at least August 1, following the uptick in new COVID-19 cases. One would hope that by the time there is an official opening of the country, clear and concise conditions will be laid out. To date, they are nonexistent.

Here is what we do know: COVID-19 testing will be mandatory. Both upon arrival and departure from said country, a negative test is obligatory.

Will our health professionals stipulate that only vaccinated tourists or those with COVID-19 recovery certificates are allowed in?

Will they demand that all individual tourists, like the groups arriving now, be subject to both a serological test and quarantine?

And the question that gets asked the most: What about families? Do we eliminate bar and bat mitzvah trips, as most younger kids are not vaccinated?

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS I have spoken to insist that we are different, that we must be vigilant, or our health system will collapse. They assert that this is the only path to keep Israel as safe as possible from the COVID-19 pandemic returning with a vengeance. Are they correct?

Where was the enforcement of quarantine over the last two months for those entering the country? Fines of over $1,000 were to be given to anyone found flying in from countries that Israel designated as high-risk due to COVID-19 infections, classified as red. Russia, though, had dozens and dozens of flights the last two months with nary a single offender fined. Is it any surprise that the Delta variant, assumed to have originated in India, made its way to Israel, causing our uptick? Countless stories were posted in social media how nobody at Ben-Gurion Airport checked their passports to see where they had been.

So once more we are closing our doors due to the ineffectiveness of the Airports Authority and the blatant disregard of imprudent and witless people.

Countries like Germany and France along with many more countries are now allowing Israeli citizens to enter with only their vaccination certificate. No negative test result required; flash that green passport which shows you have been vaccinated, and free entry is permitted. Israelis can now get on a plane to those countries with nothing more than a piece of paper showing when the vaccine was given.

Personally, that does scare me a bit. With no worldwide database, asking for that piece of paper does open up the possibility of fraudulent certificates being purchased. The system is ripe for fraud, and when numbers in those countries rise, it should come as no surprise.

Most countries, though, follow the US requirement of simply being tested before entering the country. Great Britain goes one step further. In addition to a PCR test within 72 hours of arriving, an additional one must be taken on your second day. In fact, one cannot board a plane to the United Kingdom without proof that you have already registered.

IN WATCHING and reading our media, it would seem as though everything were back to normal; planes are full, and people are clamoring to leave the country to places near and far. Poppycock. The list of places that people can and wish to travel to is barely a baker’s dozen.

Tourism hot spot Spain’s grand reopening to international travel got off to a slow start this month, with newly relaxed entry requirements failing to attract the desired wave of foreign visitors amid confusion over the new rules.

Hoping to revive its struggling tourist sector, Spain began letting in fully vaccinated people from all over the world, but the tourists are complaining that the form that must be filled out, like our own Health Declaration which everyone flying to Israel must fill out, is burdensome, not clear, with the website crashing periodically. And Spain requires only a simple COVID-19 test to enter, not even the more expensive PCR test which Israel demands.

In Thailand, businesses have responded cautiously to the plan to reopen Phuket to vaccinated foreign tourists next month, as operators are not confident they will be able to draw tourists back to the resort island, due to the tough requirements it imposes on incoming tourists.

Starting from July 1, Phuket will waive quarantine requirements for foreign tourists who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, under the “Phuket Tourism Sandbox” model, which is being touted as a model for the reopening of Thailand’s tourism industry.

Is this not a recipe for disaster? Why don’t countries follow a simple canon: Trust but verify.

El Al’s newly anointed CEO gleefully held a press conference touting the opening of nonstop flights to Phuket. Either by blissful ignorance or naivete, what was not mentioned was that tourists will have to remain on the island for 14 days before they are allowed to move on to other destinations in the country – up from the previously announced seven days. Now while Phuket is indeed one of Thailand’s most developed islands, I have yet to convince anyone flying to Thailand to wait 14 days before exploring the other jewels of Thailand.

Realizing the absurdity of enticing Israelis to Phuket, El Al finally reversed course and released its summer schedule. It is planning 22 weekly flights to JFK and Newark, six weekly flights to Los Angeles and 11 to London. Yes, Phuket is still listed, along with a few flights to cities in Europe, but El Al is finally reading the tea leaves in regard to where its clientele will be flying this summer. El Al will not be the airline that flies you to Cyprus; that’s Israir and Arkia’s domain. El Al will not be breaking down the door to Dubai; just too hot this summer to be pushing travel to the Emirates.

Ryanair is suing the British government over the discombobulated traffic light rules, as ministers mull exemptions for vaccinated Brits. Ryanair and the owner of Stansted Airport wish to take the UK government to court over the legality of its traffic light travel restrictions, which have decimated the industry. Its health professionals created their own system, rating countries as red, amber or green for COVID-19, with very specific rules one must follow to enter England.

Its green list, which is quite short, does include Israel, along with such countries as Australia and New Zealand, which for the last 15 months have basically forbidden tourists to enter and thus have near zero COVID-19. Israel can be proud to be on such a list, but if the price is that we, too, discourage tourism, it may be devastating for our economy.

London Heathrow, like Amsterdam, Paris and Hong Kong, has crashed out of the world’s top airports. London Heathrow, formerly ranked the 10th-busiest airport by weekly departing frequencies, has dropped to 123rd, as the UK’s strict lockdowns kept travelers away.

In fact, the top five airports are all in the United States: Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Denver and Charlotte. The next four airports are all in China.

The reason for this dramatic switch is quite simple: Both the US and China have seen their domestic markets booming, as their citizens prefer staying in their own country but throng to see other places. JFK and Newark airports are so dependent upon international visitors that they do not even crack the top 30.

For destinations, it is all about building trust with people who are ready to travel again. It means showing travelers safety is a top priority by communicating how often public locations are sanitized and promoting social distancing.

There is no grand reopening; it is going forward in spurts. Some countries like Ukraine or Georgia have thrown caution to the wind. Show a vaccination certificate, and you are free to frolic in Kiev or Batumi.

For most American destinations, the grand reopening strategy is simple: send out a press release saying that you are ready. Masks are no longer obligatory; most tourism sites wobble on whether entrance is limited to vaccinated people.

ISRAEL, WHICH was so dependent upon tourism, both from an economic as well as advocacy standpoint, remains torn in both its strategy and tactics. All interested parties spout the same message that we must reopen our borders. We must let our Jewish and Christian supporters into the country. It is disingenuous that Israel has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world – and one of the lowest rates of infection – but most vaccinated foreign tourists are not yet allowed to enter the country.

The latest tourism minister, Yoel Razvozov, has promised to switch the battle of getting tourists into the country from the Health Ministry to his own ministry.

At 40 years old, his background is different from the other ministers’. After making aliyah with his family at age 11, he joined the Israeli judo team and became an Israeli judo champion at the age of 16 and, far more impressive, represented Israel in the Summer Olympics. Judo is known by its throws, with the most dramatic one involving you pulling your opponent toward you and sweeping his feet out from underneath him. So, one can hope that once he decides upon a strategy that encourages tourism while protecting Israel from a COVID-19 resurgence, he does not have to resort to cutting out his opponents’ legs.