International Travel During Covid-19

Bloomberg’s Covid-19 Travel Tracker followed how major business and leisure destinations around the world gradually opened back to international travel. The tracker is no longer being updated as of Dec. 20, 2021. You can continue to read about the Covid-19 vaccine rollout here, and on global Covid-19 cases here.

Starting in August 2021, the Bloomberg Covid-19 Travel Tracker used border restrictions, public health measures and vaccination rates as inputs in order to determine which cities were the most open from 70 global destinations. The tracker also recorded what changed each week as places tightened or loosened restrictions.

As of Dec. 20, 2021,  was the most accessible of the places Bloomberg News rated using the criteria above. A total of  places were closed off to outsiders entirely.

In total, the Bloomberg Covid-19 Travel Tracker analyzed  travel combinations. As of Dec. 20, 2021, the world was taking it slow: only  of destinations were considered , based on our overall ratings.

The menu below allowed readers to pick an origin and destination and see what their trip would look like.

Bloomberg’s assessments were for international travel only and were based on the difficulty travelers face for a particular trip. A place with a quarantine rule rated as far less accessible than one that could be entered with just a negative Covid-19 test. Cities got credit for vaccinating a large portion of their residents, which can make travel safer. And having restaurants, bars and other places open without restrictions raised the rating, as well.

We have also preserved our full data and rating methodology. To read it click hereWe have also preserved our full data and rating methodology. To read it click here

Bloomberg’s analysis assumed that travelers were vaccinated, since many places require vaccination as a condition of entry. Covid-19 travel rules for unvaccinated people can be stricter and weren’t included in the tracker.

The Bloomberg Covid-19 Travel Tracker also offered an answer to the question many travelers have: just because you can go somewhere, is it worth the trip? Stepping off a six-hour flight to find out that restaurants are closed would be a disappointment. As of Dec. 20, 2021,  destinations were rated as being more open upon arrival, while  destinations fell into our least-open rating.

With outbreaks in new hot spots and flare-ups in places that have faced surges before, many travelers are looking at local vaccination rates before booking a trip. Our tracker incorporated that data in its ratings.

Finally, although not part of rating the destinations included the tracker, we also followed how flight capacity fared against pre-pandemic levels. For the week starting , 2021, the number of available seats on flights between the destinations Bloomberg tracks was   the comparable week in 2019.

Bloomberg’s ratings came from a combination of Covid-19 travel restriction data provided by Sherpa, vaccination data compiled by Bloomberg, city openness data from local Bloomberg journalists, and flight capacity information from OAG. We have preserved our full methodology hereWe have preserved our full methodology here.