Tourism open yet?

[another]

The only confirmed change in Argentina to be aware of is that it will become mandatory in January to have a PCR test within 72 hours prior to boarding any flight to Argentina - residents included. At the moment it is optional for residents.

When you say 'residents', do you mean perm residents sans citizenship, or citizens included? The latter would constitute bloody dictatorship...
I'd expect IATA to push for that. As of now PCR cost in Canada is anywhere between 250 and 500 bucks, with some provinces not even providing it but for essential travel, and the results take up to 6 days. I can't imagine this still being required a year down the road - a lot of people will just opt to go to a country which accepts a vaccination passport, which is a free bee - rather than going through the hassle of getting a PCR and shelling another few hundred bucks for it...Not that Argentina will care to miss yet another opportunity to make an extra penny on tourism...

 

[Alby]

Further, some private airlines such as QANTAS may also refuse to carry you if you don’t have proof of vaccine when they resume international flying at the end of 2021.

I doubt Qantas will ever fly internationally again. It's got a large fleet of long haul craft stored in the desert and reserves supposedly to last another year. But with the absolute zero-tolerance approach to Covid in Australia, the massive expectation amongst the general public that it will never enter-- and people gripped with fear that it might--I can't see the government being able to do away with mandatory 14-day government quarantine on arrival for another two or three years at least. Even a 90% effective vaccine rolled out over 2021 to a large chunk of the local population and mandatory vaccine for anyone boarding an inbound flight won't be enough to guarantee that a few cases each week (if there were no quarantine) won't slip into the community. And, as the current outbreak in Sydney shows, when that happens, the entire nation panics.

With long term 14-day (self-funded) quarantine, very few locals will have the time or money to travel overseas and then return, and few visitors will be inclined to come. How over the coming years Australia gets out of the corner that it has inadvertently backed itself into, will be very interesting to watch, as will the reaction of Qantas as the quarantine arrangements drag on and on.

 

[another]

Mate, for one thing Australia can get a reality check right this moment and start follow some degree of common sense like other countries do...It had 9 months to figure out that locking itself from the rest of the world is not gonna do the trick...That is, if it was not obvious to them from the start...

 

[Alby]

Unfortunately, I can't see it happening.

In fact, it's getting worse. Because the current outbreak "may" have come from flight crew--who are subject to easier quarantine rules because of international agreements--now there is pressure on government to force the crew of the few airlines still servicing the country into the same quarantine arrangements as everybody else. In contravention, naturally of the international agreements. And the New South Wales government has already succumbed to this pressure and is advising other state governments to do the same. Predictably, as the NSW Health Minister himself admitted yesterday, the reaction of the airlines has been to say they will simply stop coming in.

The country is locking itself further away from the rest of the world the longer this goes on.

 

[another]

that sucks...they'll have to revert to the boats if they want to escape...:-(

 

[antipodean]

Residents = anyone with a DNI (or similar documentation giving the right to live here.)

I think Argentina will be late in opening up wider to tourism. I would at best think that they allow Argentine residents who are vaccinated travel freely as a first step - also to encourage vaccination compliance. We already know it is going to be slow and clumsy when it comes to dishing out vaccines, is on the cusp of a second wave (and lockdown of some sorts) and the political landscape is a minefield ... Multi-tasking and innovating is not what this country does well, especially when it comes to low priorities like international tourism.

Other countries meanwhile should be more pragmatic and seek to make themselves an appealing destination for the low-risk foreign traveler!

 

[another]

Residents = anyone with a DNI (or similar documentation giving the right to live here.)

I think Argentina will be late in opening up wider to tourism. I would at best think that they allow Argentine residents who are vaccinated travel freely as a first step - also to encourage vaccination compliance. We already know it is going to be slow and clumsy when it comes to dishing out vaccines, is on the cusp of a second wave (and lockdown of some sorts) and the political landscape is a minefield ... Multi-tasking and innovating is not what this country does well, especially when it comes to low priorities like international tourism.

Other countries meanwhile should be more pragmatic and seek to make themselves an appealing destination for the low-risk foreign traveler!

how can it be legal for any country make a PCR mandatory for it's own citizens to be able to return home?

 

[antipodean]

how can it be legal for any country make a PCR mandatory for it's own citizens to be able to return home?

There are a few. Essentially it’s to fly, not to enter... don’t like it take a bus and walk across a bridge.

 

[SVBA_97]

I have a friend flying on Sunday from the US as a family member will let you know what he says.
The rule is that you must have 72 hours before you first international leg. So if you leave Canada and you fly via the US you are fine. However, if you were flying thru a domestic location you would not.

Hey DSP27... any update from your friend?

 

[dsp27]

Hey DSP27... any update from your friend?

Yes, he said there was no place on the form to upload the PCR test (as you pointed). He just printed it and had it with him but said at Ezeiza/migraciones did not even ask for it. Only before his flight in the US, outbound to AR.