What Happened to Travel Bubbles?

It was three months ago — a lifetime in pandemic terms — that the travel industry seemed confident that so-called travel bubbles could be the saving grace of the summer tourism. When Skift covered the idea in early May, countries in Asia, Europe, as well as Australia and New Zealand were considering some form of it. The concept was that countries that shared regional borders and similar rates of infection could allow cross border travel without the need for quarantine. The hope was these reciprocal agreements could get tourism out of its dormant state. But since then, the idea itself seems to have fallen from grace. Last week, Thailand shelved its plans for a travel bubble after a rise in cases across Asia. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said plans for an Australia-New Zealand bubble are  paused indefinitely after a spike of cases in Australia. Meanwhile, Britain has proceeded with its whack-a-mole approach to international travel, imposing quarantines at a mome