Vaccine Passports + Travel Security + Travel Insurance + Approved Vaccines + LGBTQ+ Complexities

As the rampant delta variant of Covid threatens the post-pandemic travel and tourism rebound, there’s growing acceptance of so-called vaccine passports among a one-hesitant U.S. public and of increased calls for their mandated use across the industry.

A survey from travel website Upgraded Points of 1,000 people from June 2 to 3 found that 81.8% of U.S. respondents supported the idea of a vaccine passport — usually defined as a paper or digital document proving inoculation against Covid-19 — and 54.9% said airlines, hotel and other travel companies should require proof of vaccination from customers.

Three in 4 agreed airlines should require proof of vaccination before customers fly. A majority (58%, on average) also think airlines, cruise ships, trains and buses should segregate vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers.

LGBTQ+ Business Travelers Navigate Complexities

July 23, 2021 via Business Travel News

...some challenges faced specifically by LGBTQ+ travelers are literally about life and death. Consensual sexual activity between individuals of the same sex remains illegal in 69 countries, in some cases punishable by death, according to LGBTQ+ rights monitor Equaldex. One hundred and four countries offer no legal protection from discrimination to LGBTQ+ individuals at all, and many other countries offer an inconsistent patchwork of protections. In the United States, for example, the Supreme Court held in a narrow 2020 ruling that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act provides protections against firing an employee based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but there remains no blanket law offering LGBTQ+ individuals protection from discrimination throughout the United States—and some states seem eager to move in the opposite direction.