Tourism industry wants Maine to consider vaccinated visitors in travel restrictions
The summer tourism season is still weeks away, but businesses that depend on tourists said now is the time for people looking to travel to start planning.
Currently, visitors to Maine must quarantine for 10 days or test negative for the coronavirus. New Hampshire and Vermont are the only states exempt from the restrictions.
“We feel like Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast here waiting for a guest to show up,” Elmwood Resort General Manager Scott DeFelice said.
Last summer, DeFelice offered to pay for coronavirus tests for guests to try and boost a summer damped by the virus.
“The No. 1 question I get over and again is, ‘Look, we have been fully vaccinated. Now we have been in our house for about a year. We want out we want to come up there,’” DeFelice said.
Greg Dugal, of Hospitality Maine, said there currently are no exemptions for vaccinated travelers.
“Unfortunately, right now the answer is no at this moment in time,” Dugal said.
A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development said the agency is reviewing protocols “with the dual aim of protecting public health while promoting economic activity.
The spokesperson said any changes would be announced in the coming weeks.
Dugal said he hopes the state’s plan will include vaccinated travelers.
“I have no idea what is going to be in it, but I know it will be addressed and certainly this will be one of the items that will be addressed,” Dugal said.
DeFelice said safety still needs to be the No. 1 priority but asked for a decision as soon as possible so people can plan trips beginning in April.
“I don’t expect us to become Texas and open wide open and jeopardize the people here, but those folks that have gotten the vaccine. They have done it for a reason. They want to be safe. They want to travel. There shouldn't be any reason those folks can’t come into Maine,” DeFelice said.