On April 27, the Dominican Republic announced that it was removing all COVID-19 restrictions for incoming travelers. Now anyone traveling to the Dominican Republic from any country will not need to show vaccination status or any negative COVID tests on arrival, nor will anyone not showing symptoms of COVID-19 be asked to quarantine.
As of April 20, American Airlines (www.aa.com) now rebooks passengers who missed their flights by no more than 15 minutes onto the next available flight at no additional cost. Only the destination city must remain the same; the routing and the arriving airport may change due to availability.
Passengers who arrive before their flight departs but after final check-in will also be rebooked for free.
In an effort to reduce air pollution, French lawmakers approved a plan to ban domestic flights along routes that can be reached by train in less than 2½ hours. Connecting flights along the banned routes from major airports are still allowed but are not able to be booked as stand-alone flights.
As of press time, The following countries had opened or waived testing and/or quarantining requirements for vaccinated travelers. (A person is not considered vaccinated until two weeks after their final injection.)
• The Bahamas began waiving any testing requirements for vaccinated travelers, including the rapid antigen tests required for interisland travel, on May 1.
Near the city of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, visitors can take a guided bicycle tour along an old train route, the Kettle Valley Railway, in Myra Canyon, crossing 18 hundred-year-old trestles and passing through two tunnels. The largest trestle is 721 feet long and 180 feet high. The trail, 15 miles round trip, has no climbs and can be biked comfortably, with rest stops, in about four hours.
On Rarotonga, visitors can be regaled with the history and culture of the Cook Islanders on active day tours led by guides from Storytellers (Box 2130, Arorangi; phone +682 23450, www.storytellers.co.ck).
In Far North Queensland, Australia, in March, the Tip at Cape York (called Pajinka by the Aborigines who live there) was closed by the Traditional Owners, Gudang/Yahaykenu Aboriginal Corporation, due to visitor misbehavior and vandalism.
Pajinka is the country’s northernmost continental point of land. A week after the closure, on March 25, the chairman of the corporation agreed to a deal that would reopen Cape York to visitors, but each would be charged a fee of AUD10 (near $8).
Private tours for 5 to 10 people (at least 13 years old) will begin being offered in 2022 by the tour operator Overseas Adventure Travel, or OAT (Boston, MA; 800/955-1925, www.oattravel.com). Available worldwide, the Personalized Private Adventures (PPAs) are available in the same locations as OAT group tours and use local OAT guides, but the pace and itinerary of each is customized to the guests’ preferences.
Every passenger and crew member will be tested for COVID-19 each day, using a noninvasive, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) saliva test, during the maiden voyages of the Viking Venus, the newest oceangoing ship of Viking Cruises (855/338-4546, www.viking.com). In English waters, the three 8-day cruises (available for UK residents only) are scheduled for May and June 2021.
The cruise line Virgin Voyages (www.virginvoyages.com) announced on March 16 that it would require all passengers and crew to be vaccinated before boarding one of its ships.