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U . S . and provide documentation to the airline they ’ re flying with of either a negative result for COVID-19 or proof that they ’ ve recovered from COVID-19 . It caused quite a stir amongst travel advisors , with many questions and unfortunately , cancellations from their clients .

Hotels and resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean quickly mobilized to counteract the potential worry by offering on-site COVID-19 testing to guests , often at no cost , along with extended stay accommodations if a guest did test positive and needed to quarantine before heading back to the U . S . ( read more about the quick actions of hotels and resorts on page XX ). AMResorts , Iberostar Hotels & Resorts , Sandos Hotels & Resorts ,

NEW TSA WORKERS NEEDED

La Colección by Fiesta Americana , RIU Hotels & Resorts and Sandals Resorts are just a few of the resort brands that sprang into action for their guests to offer on-site testing . Apple Leisure Group Vacations even added a Hotel Amenities filter and hotel-specific messaging to its products on VAX to make it easy for travel advisors to find properties that offered on-site COVID-19 testing .

Soon after the CDC ’ s rule was in effect , TSA then offered another glimpse into the industry ’ s recovery in late February by announcing that it was seeking to hire more than 6,000 airport security screening officers by summer 2021 in anticipation of a busy summer season . And then more exciting news came from TSA in mid-March : 1.4 million passengers were screened at airports around the U . S . on Friday , March 12 , 2021 , the most passengers screened in one day since March 15 , 2020 . On the same day in 2020 , TSA screened 1.71 million passengers , which was 18 % more than in 2021 , but still a promising sign for travel .

Traffic to the VAX website in January 2021 grew 72 % over December 2020 .

VAX ’ s Early Recovery

VAX VacationAccess saw its own signs of recovery . Traffic to the VAX website in January 2021 grew 72 % over December 2020 . The first month of the year is generally the busiest on VAX , but seeing such a significant increase in site traffic was incredibly hopeful . February did not disappoint , with a 7 % increase in site traffic over January , followed by a blowout in March with an 82 % increase over February . The VAX site was buzzing .

In early March , VAX conducted an on-site poll asking travel advisors how the new CDC testing rule was impacting their business . The results were mixed : 40 % said they had more canceled or postponed bookings , 34 % said their clients felt intimidated or less confident traveling , 19 % said their clients actually felt safer with the extra precautions and surprisingly , 4 % said they had fewer canceled or postponed bookings .

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