As more people are vaccinated against coronavirus, so-called vaccine passports will make it safer for them to travel, according to Glenn Fogel, general manager of travel company Booking Holdings.
“I’m not sure why people still oppose it, in terms of making people travel safer,” Fogel said in an interview with CNBC’s “The Exchange”.
The Biden administration has indicated that it wants to establish a system to provide documentation on a person’s vaccination status, which can help more easily know who is protected from the virus and who is not, but it is unclear how it will work. Several airlines have also expressed their support for vaccine documentation.
However, there are critics with vaccine passports for a variety of reasons, ranging from privacy issues to scientific reasons to equity issues.
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said vaccinated people have a “low risk” of traveling.
Fogel said he would like vaccinated people to start traveling again.
“The industry has been so devastated, travel has been so hurt by this terrible and tragic crisis, and we need everything that can help achieve [the travel industry] goes and is allowing people to travel, because [the vaccines] they are absolutely proven to be safe. “
Booking Holdings owns brands such as Kayak, Agoda, Booking.com, Priceline.com and OpenTable.
“The idea of a Covid passport that says it ‘s completely vaccinated [means] you are a safe traveler, you can go to places where other people may not be allowed to go, ”said Fogel.
On Monday, the company offered a $ 50 credit after the trip to travelers who booked a trip in late May and traveled before the end of the year. The company also offers more flexibility to cancel travel plans if needed. The promotion is aimed at getting people to start booking summer trips.
“We are seeing that prices are also starting to rise, which is, of course, the assumption of demand, which is why I continue to defend [people to] get out, look what you want, go get it now, ”Fogel said.
Increasing vaccination rates will also help. Since the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine began in December, more than 165 million doses have been administered to people in the United States, according to the CDC.
For now, Americans may be more comfortable traveling in the United States because of Covid restrictions, he said. According to a Booking.com poll, 69% of people said they would prefer to travel closer to home in the foreseeable future.
“There won’t be a lot of international travel,” he said. “As for people staying close to home, there’s certainly still that feeling of uncertainty and wanting to be close to home, but I think that’s going to spread and as people feel more sure to travel, she will start making longer trips. ” “
Shares of Booking Holdings closed 1.1% on Monday at $ 2,409.18.