The world of travel ground to a halt back in March, and international travel pretty much ceased for leisure purposes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is slowly relaunching again but it can be tricky to work out what's happening, so a free online interactive world map may help people to keep track of the situation.
The map has been launched by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to provide travelers with the latest COVID-19 entry regulations by country. It relies on IATA’s Timatic database, which contains comprehensive information on documentation required for international travel. To keep pace with the dynamic situation currently being experienced, Timatic is updated more than 200 times per day to provide accurate travel restriction information, based on the citizenship and country of residence of the person using it.
In a recent survey commissioned by IATA regarding concerns people had about air travel post-crisis, more than 80% of travelers said they are as concerned about potential quarantine restrictions as they are about actually catching the virus during travel. With the quickly-changing health restrictions from one country to the next confusing people, this new resource may help to remove some of the uncertainties we're experiencing.
"As the aviation industry prepares to safely restart, travelers will need to know which countries’ borders are open and what health restrictions exist," says Anish Chand, IATA’s assistant director, Timatic. "Travelers can rely on Timatic for comprehensive and accurate information on travel during the pandemic."
IATA’s COVID-19 interactive world map, also available for mobile, can be viewed here.
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