Happy New Year to my tour travelers and welcome to my website! Given the stagnant nature of the tour and travel business in 2021, I stuck to a single Newsletter for the entire year - - - nothing really changed that much regarding travel opportunities from the USA. Europe, however, had numerous changes, mostly in the areas of construction, local transportation, and the continuing pandemic, so I'll be updating Newsletter information quarterly throughout 2022, or more often as necessary. In the coming weeks, I'll be contacting my existing social media followers directly, encouraging them to join my growing email contact list, which ensures better information flow, since social media can sometimes be hit or miss.
Several Stateside tour companies started advertising available tours in areas of Europe last November and December and were forced to cancel tour plans and fully refund tour funds, but since their tours use 'Land Price' instead of 'Full Price', flight arrangements made by their customers remain in question - these companies tried to lean forward just a little too quickly and caused their customers some pretty serious travel headaches. GaryToursEurope.com will not schedule tours until travel status to Europe and the USA returns to a stable condition, given the COVID information below.
I just returned from Munich in early December and a variety of tour locations and events are still under discussion and awaiting final decisions. The culprit is still the Corona Virus and its many variants. Germany has adopted a condition strategy called the 'Corona Ampel' - quick translation is Corona Traffic Light system - a simple Green, Yellow, Red system that dictates mask and entry policies to clubs, bars, restaurants, all forms of local transportation, and size of public gatherings. A Green status allows full unrestricted access. A Yellow status implements serious travel restrictions. A Red status places cities, regions, and in some cases, whole countries in full lockdown. The traffic light system is defined as a country or region within a country is depicted in Green if less than 1 person per 10,000 inhabitants is tested positive. Yellow shows countries with 1 to <10 positively tested cases per 10,000 inhabitants. Red are countries with 10 or more cases per 10,000 inhabitants. So, here's the most often used terms - - - 3G, 2G, and 2G+. Surprisingly, 3G is less restrictive than 2G because 3G allows the unvaccinated to travel locally, whereas 2G requires proven vaccination status, and the unvaccinated are nearly on lockdown to their residences, and the most restrictive condition is 2G+, which has not yet been implemented, being cited as 'not supportable'. The G's are Geimpft, Genesen, and Getestet. These translate as follows - Geimpft = Fully vaccinated (supported by a CDC COVID card or European COVID pass), Genesen = Fully recovered from COVID-19 (supported by a doctor's letter) and Getestet = PCR or Antigen test showing negative results for the unvaccinated. During my recent visit to Munich, the Ampel condition was Yellow and 2G, meaning I had to show my passport and COVID card showing my fully vaccinated status and wear an N95 or KN95 FFP2 (Full Face Protection) mask to enter restaurants and public tour venues. The unvaccinated could not use any forms of local transportation and the City Transportation Police that normally check for proper ticket compliance have also been directed to check COVID vaccination status. The 2G+ condition would require proving fully vaccinated or recovered status, plus a rapid test on the day of entry to certain public facilities - this would really stretch available rapid test supplies and has not been implemented.
The overall impact to tours and travel are that you can travel to Germany and most of Europe if you're fully vaccinated, but I can't guarantee that I can get you back to the USA on schedule should you contract a breakthrough case of Corona Virus. If that occurs, the current quarantine rules specify a 5-10 day period of recovery and if you are required to quarantine, it could be at a substantial additional cost, and might not be covered fully by travel insurance. The travel rules to the USA also changed while I was in Munich. The testing requirement changed from having a negative Corona Virus test three days prior to flying, to one day prior to flying to the USA and I had to schedule the rapid test the day prior to that one-day requirement - all quite a potential mess for travelers with specific itineraries.
Munich changed their local transportation zones. In 2020, Zones started with Zone 1 in the downtown area, and extended to Zone 12, which included the Munich Airport and beyond, so traveling to the Airport would require a ticket for Gesamtnetz, or the entire transportation network. A recent change now has the downtown Munich area in Zone M and extending to Zone 6 which includes outlying areas beyond the Airport, so using the same example, traveling from downtown to the Munich Airport would require a ticket for Zones M+5, which is slightly less expensive. Most ticket machines and many monitors are being removed from outlying train stations and are replaced by smart phone apps that show train schedules, locations, and allow online ticket purchases. Overall rates for tickets are still similar to 2020 prices.
I monitor the travel requirements weekly for changes, and right now there are some early 2022 tours that may be delayed a couple of weeks or canceled altogether for this year if the tours are event specific. Stay tuned for status updates on the Munich Strong Beer Festival and Belgium's Zythos Beer Festival. Tours scheduled for later in the year (May-October) should be okay and I expect those to stay on schedule for this year. Any expansion plans for adding the southern UK and Czech Republic to the tour schedules are delayed for at least one year.
I know this is a lot of information to absorb, but the tour and travel business is recovering a bit more slowly than initially expected, and personal safety is the most important element I consider when scheduling tours for my customers.
As always, my tour travelers, my signoff remains - - - BREW!!!