With tourist season approaching, more countries are opening their borders to foreign visitors. This free website helps keep you up-to-date on current immigration regulations, including Covid-19 restrictions.
While most countries remain closed to foreign tourists, a few are opening, several are imposing “travel bubbles” (admission limited to citizens of certain countries), and some are providing time estimates for when visitors may again be welcome.
Take Europe: It’s mostly off-limits to Americans, with a few exceptions. U.S. citizens may visit mainland Portugal, subject to their temperatures being checked by walk-through camera systems in the airport. Britain, Ireland, and Belarus are open to Americans, but they must quarantine for two weeks upon arrival.
With rules in flux all over the world, how do you find out what the current air travel restrictions are? Go to the International Airline Transportation Association’s Interactive Coronavirus Travel Regulations Map.
Click on any country and up pop the current rules. (The countries aren’t labelled by name, so you’ll have to brush up on your geography. And some are missing; hello, Taiwan and the Maldives?)
Here’s what came up on Ireland:
And this is what the info on Mexico looks like:
Remember, it’s up to you—not the airline you’re flying on—to make sure you’ll be allowed into a particular country. The IATA map is a good place to start your research. It’s based on the Timatic database, which is the source airlines use when verifying passenger travel document requirements, customs and currency regulations, airport taxes, and the like.
Given how quickly travel rules are currently evolving, the IATA notes the map info isn’t guaranteed. So you should check your destination’s official tourism site, too.
Also remember the IATA map doesn’t tell you about regulations and requirements, if any, once you arrive, such as quarantine periods, Covid-19 testing, or temperature checks. And it may not reveal restrictions for specific areas of a country, like the extra requirements imposed on foreign travelers to Portugal’s Madeira and Azores regions or Hawaii and Alaska in the U.S.
Twist’s Take: Not sure if you can visit a country? Start with a check of the IATA Interactive map for the latest immigration regulations (including Covid-19 rules).
