I’ll be first in the queue to get to Las Vegas, a city I truly love spending time in.

It’s great news to hear that the USA, and therefore Las Vegas, is reopening to international travellers from November 8, 2021. It’s only fully vaccinated travellers of course, and those arriving in the USA will need to have a negative Covid-19 test before flying, and show proof of vaccination (of any WHO approved vaccine).

The current border restrictions have been in place around 600 days, with a large number of countries banned – so this opening up will certainly make a difference to US tourism, and to tourism hot spots like Las Vegas, Nevada. Personally I can’t wait. Since my last trip to Las Vegas in December 2019, there’s been the opening of Circa Las Vegas (Downtown Las Vegas), Resorts World Las Vegas (Las Vegas Strip), and Virgin Las Vegas (remodelled and newly owned Hard Rock Casino and Hotel Las Vegas). And there’s been the completion of Allegiant Stadium, the start of the Sphere construction, and probably thousands of other things I’m not aware of as a non-local.

I don’t expect that tourism will suddenly rebound en-mass at high speed. Whilst it’s great that the USA is opening its doors, countries like the one I live in still require managed isolation on the return leg – with limited spots available – making it harder to “come home”. Even if you can get a spot, there’s a high price to pay, and you’ve also got to factor in time away from your paid workplace during the isolation period. The other issue is that flights are severely limited compared to pre-covid levels, so there’s not as much competition on airline routes, making travel quite expensive. Factor in the additional costs of having covid tests in both directions to ensure safe travel, and things start to look a bit hazy…

All of that said, I’m personally hopeful that within a few months the need to isolate in my home country might be relaxed. When that happens, flying to the USA becomes a manageable activity once again – and I’ll be first in the queue to get to Las Vegas, a city I truly love spending time in.