The American Car Rental Association (ACRA) joined with a group of travel and tourism groups to develop a roadmap for reopening international to and from the United States.

To safely lift entry restrictions and restart international travel, the group developed these guiding principles:

• Reserve entry restrictions for only the highest-risk countries. Entry restrictions should be limited to those countries with a high instance of variants of concern that could threaten the efficacy of the vaccine or undermine the progress the U.S. has made to defeat COVID.

• Replace all other travel restrictions with a framework of risk-based entry protocols. Instead of blanket travel restrictions, entry requirements can be based on an individual’s risk profile and a country’s epidemiological trends.

• Make sure that the framework is easy to understand, communicate, and implement. The framework should be available to the public and use clear benchmarks and publicly accessible data to guide implementation.

Short-term opportunities include:

• Lift entry restrictions and reopen travel between the U.S. and the United Kingdom: The U.S. and the U.K. have similar vaccination rates. Travel between the two countries can be low risk if travelers are vaccinated or produce a negative COVID test before boarding a flight.

• Allow fully vaccinated people from non-high-risk countries to enter the U.S. The U.S. government can work with non-high-risk countries (such as the European Union) to establish guidelines to verify proof of vaccine status.

A country would be considered low-to-moderate risk if it has moderate levels of variants of concern detected, low risk (low prevalence, hospitalizations, and deaths), successful vaccine rollout, and strong monitoring.

A country would be considered high risk if it has high community prevalence levels with low levels of vaccination; high levels of variants of concern; and uncertainty of data surrounding vaccine impact.  

New Members

Please welcome Cargo Transrealty Enterprises (Decatur, Ga.), Fast Pace Luxury Rentals (Chagrin Falls, Ohio), City Rent A Truck (Kansas City, Mo.), KeyWest Adventures (Key West, Fla.), OC Car Rental Orlando (Orlando), Panda Motors, dba U-Save, (San Antonio), Ryntacar LLC (Orange Beach, Ala.), Robust Rental Car (College Park, Ga.), Wheelz4Rent (Brooklyn, N.Y.), UDrive Rent A Car (Bayonne, N.J.), and T&A Concierge/Sky Rentals (Miami) as new operator members.

Renewed operator members include Alaska Auto Rental (Fairbanks, Alaska), Kulp Car Rentals (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Great Western Car and Van Rental (Sioux City, Iowa), and Easirent (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

Please also welcome ParrWash Inc. (Pulaski, Tenn.) as a new vendor member. Renewed vendor members include Zurich American Insurance Co. (Schaumburg, Ill.), IOA Insurance (Calif.), and Guidepoint System (Madison Heights, Mich.).