Austria has become the first European
nation to reintroduce a nationwide lockdown due to rising COVID-19 cases. This
means tourism in the Central European country will be temporarily suspended.
Austria has also planned to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all
eligible people. By doing this, it will become the first country in Europe to
make vaccines mandatory.

In Western Europe, Germany is plagued with
a rising number of COVID-19 cases. Munich’s iconic Christmas market has been
cancelled for the second year in a row and Berlin has banned unvaccinated
people from entering theatres, restaurants and bars.

Midnight curfew in Ireland

On Thursday, Ireland imposed a midnight
curfew on bars, restaurants and nightclubs, just weeks after nightclubs
reopened for the first time since March 2020.

Elsewhere, the Netherlands has imposed a
partial-lockdown, while Hungary and the Czech Republic have been included in
the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s highest-risk travel zone
category.

India in low-risk travel zone  

However, things have improved in Asian
countries. India, which lost 4,65000 people to COVID-19, now has some of the
lowest case rates in the world, earning it a CDC Level 1 rating as a low-risk
travel zone. On November 15, it opened its borders to fully vaccinated foreign
tourists on commercial flights for the first time since the pandemic ravaged
the nation.

Cambodia also ended quarantine for
vaccinated travellers and the Philippines said it will reopen its borders to
tourists soon.

In the United States, Christmas holiday travel is
likely to be back to pre-pandemic time.