Year in Review: The Biggest Travel Stories of 2020

They say hindsight is 20/20-well, we're certainly glad that the year 2020 will soon be firmly fixed in our rearview.

The "new normal" we're all living was the furthest thing from our minds at this time last year. It's a bit bewildering to look back on the past 12 months and re-live the circumstances that introduced us to those elements of pandemic living that are routine today.

Maybe 2020 will seem somewhat less chaotic in retrospect, or, it might still resemble the nauseating rollercoaster that we were all forced to ride at the time. Let's take a walk down memory lane with this collection of your favorite moments from the travel industry's most punishing year on record.

January 31: President Trump and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) barred entry into the United States to all foreign nationals who recently visited China and started rerouting all incoming flights carrying returning American passengers through one of eight approved U.S. airports having appropriate health-screening capabilities. At this point, the World Health Organization (WHO) had already declared the outbreak a global emergency.

The Diamond Princess was initially quarantined at sea after a guest who sailed on it in January tested positive for COVID-19, after which port after port in the region denied the vessel entry to offload passengers or resupply. Eventually, Diamond Princess was allowed to dock in Yokohama, Japan, where onboard quarantining continued, with guests confined to their cabins and staff trying to keep the infection from spreading throughout their own quarters. Ultimately, hundreds of passengers and crew members were confirmed to be COVID-positive, with some removed to receive treatment or hospitalization in Japan.

The rest of the ship's contingent wasn't permitted to disembark until February 19 - 27, being prohibited from leaving until they received a negative COVID-19 test result, and were required to undergo a second quarantine once on land. The unfortunate Diamond Princess became the poster child for travelers' worst fears about boarding a cruise ship amid the escalating health crisis.

Before the pandemic took over as the main storyline for the entire world, the big debate in travel centered around reclining your seat on airplanes. This all started from a woman's video of a man repeatedly punching the back of her seat because she had reclined into his space went viral. From there, everyone was weighing in on which person was in the right and whether or not people should be allowed to recline their seat at all. It even led to the woman threatening to sue United Airlines over the entire incident.

By March 13, the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared Europe the epicenter of the pandemic. "More cases are now being reported every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's Director-General. Among the hardest-hit countries on the continent, Italy began locking down on March 10, with severely-impacted Spain following suit on March 16. On March 17, the European Union (E.U.) announced its closure of all the Schengen area's external borders for a minimum of 30 days. Europe would not begin reopening its external borders to foreigners until June 10, although the U.S. was not among the countries that received the green light.

March 9: The U.S. State Department issued an advisory recommending that Americans avoid cruises. Then, on March 11, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Cruise Lines International Association CLIA agree to institute a 'No-Sail Order', which took effect on March 13 and was originally meant to last 30 days, but would continue to be extended on a monthly basis until the autumn.

March 12: With the alarming increase in COVID-19 cases cropping up throughout Europe, President Trump announced the suspension of all travel from Europe for a minimum of 30 days. European nationals were prohibited from entering the U.S., although the rule didn't apply to returning U.S. residents. Initially, the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Ireland were excluded from this edict, but were added in a few days later.

March 19: The U.S. State Department blanketly issued a Level 4 'Do Not Travel' Advisory for all international destinations. "The Department of State advises U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of COVID-19," the agency wrote on Twitter. U.S. residents who were already abroad at the time were warned to return home immediately or prepare to remain in place "for the foreseeable future". "In countries where commercial departure options remain available, U.S. citizens who live in the U.S. should arrange for immediate return," the department wrote. Unfortunately, global airlines had already begun cancelling flights and cutting operations, leaving many American travelers in a lurch.

As international borders abruptly slammed shut in mid-March and the State Department advised U.S. residents abroad to "arrange for immediate return to the United States, unless they are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period", Americans who were already mid-trip went into a panic and began frenzying to find a way home. Commercial air carriers were quickly closing down international operations, leaving stranded travelers subject to steep price-gauging practices as they vied for seats aboard the last available flights home. Some foreign governments even banned all flights into or out of their countries, trapping tourists in the process. The U.S. government scrambled to coordinate charter flights for repatriation in such cases, but even those were offered only at the customer's expense.

March 25: As part of the $2.2-trillion CARES Act stimulus package passed by the U.S. federal government, $58 billion for U.S. airlines split between loans and payroll grants. As "ticket agents" (the statutory term for travel agencies), travel advisors were also made eligible to access the $25 billion in federal loans allotted for aviation-related businesses. A new Small Business Administration (SBA) loan program also made loans of up to $10 million available to small businesses, such as travel agencies.

Heading into the second half of March, the land borders between neighboring North American nations were also closed in efforts to prevent COVID-19 from spreading across the continent. President Trump announced agreements with the leaders of both Canada and Mexico for implementing bilateral bans on non-essential travel across land borders, without affecting regular trade and commerce. The measure was to be revisited every 30 days and weighed against epidemiological conditions of the moment. The ban has been renewed every month since its introduction.

After much early debate among experts about how effective masks that cover the nose and mouth are in reducing COVID-19 transmission, in the spring, people began to accept that mask-wearing would need to be part of the so-called "new normal". In May, as part of their efforts to implement as many protective measures as possible and instill some confidence in travelers who were largely avoiding flying, all of the major U.S. airlines began requiring both crew and passengers to wear masks or face coverings throughout the travel journey, including at the airport.

The airlines' mask-wearing policies simply would not be respected by some, resulting in a string of incidents involving passengers who refused to wear their masks and caused quite a scene as they were escorted off their flights for failing to comply with health and safety measures. In July, a Delta flight bound for Atlanta was forced to turn around and head back to Detroit due to two non-compliant passengers. Under policy terms, customers who refuse to comply with mask rules can be banned from flying with the airline for the duration of the pandemic.

While many destinations were still struggling to get their acts together in terms of implementing COVID-era health and safety protocols over the summer, big-name theme parks in Florida-Universal Orlando Resort; Orlando's SeaWorld, Aquatica and Discovery Cove Parks; and Tampa's Busch Gardens and Adventure Island-managed to reopen in the first half of June. All had heightened cleaning protocols, and applied other enhanced health and safety measures to protect guests and staff, including requiring face coverings, social distancing and temperature checks. Parks also began operating only with strict capacity limits, having implemented new online reservation systems for guests to secure their admission. The Walt Disney World Resort reopened, complete with all of the above-mentioned protection measures in place, on July 8.

As summer approached and a large percentage of Americans had been forced to cancel international travel plans, people began looking for places closer to home that they could explore and would get them out of the house after months of lockdown. Visits to parks, outdoor adventures and camping suddenly became the go-to vacation type for U.S. travelers, many of whom were also wary of staying in rented or hotel accommodations. RVs offered the ideal solution-you could bring your own bed, bath, kitchen and living area with you, and keep yourself and your family relatively isolated from others, as long as you chose uncrowded campsites and minimized your supply stops. RVing is predicted to remain popular well into 2021.

Since the start of the pandemic, airlines had adopted a new level of flexibility, waiving change fees for extended periods for passengers who found that they couldn't go through with their travel plans, and issuing future flight credits or processing refunds. Then, in August, in an aviation industry first, major U.S. airlines began announcing that they were permanently getting rid of change fees on all but Basic Economy tickets. First United, followed by Delta, and then American Airlines made almost identical announcement within days of each other.

August 6: The U.S. State Department dropped its universal, Level 4 (Do Not Travel) Advisory on all international destinations, active since March. Instead, it returned to the standard practice of evaluating countries individually in order to provide travelers with details regarding specific destinations. Its four travel advisory levels are determined by conditions on the ground in each destination country, not only in terms of COVID-19 spread, but other health and safety factors, but the prevalence and types of criminal activity, and various safety considerations.

As restrictions were lifted and new rules set in place, some people began to travel internationally again over the summer. Of course, the options were limited as only certain destinations remain open and most are requiring travelers present a negative COVID-19 test to even enter the country. TravelPulse detailed first-hand accounts of what it was like traveling to Mexico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and more.

After the death of George Floyd in the summer, protests and riots broke out in the United States over police brutality and racism in America. It forced those in the travel industry to have more open discussions and dialogue about racism in the world of tourism and how companies can be more diverse and more inclusive.

As the world shuts down, travelers begin canceling their trips. Many are left stranded without receiving their money back while others only end up with future credits. The refund controversy definitely had quite the shakeup in the travel industry.

Because of the cancellations and rebookings, travel agents and advisors are essentially working for free. Relief aid helps some in the spring but many agencies are still hurting. Some storefronts are forced to close and many advisors begin working from home, changing up their business routine in the process. Fees may become part of their model moving forward if they weren't charging fees already. Later in the year, ASTA becomes a strong advocate for a revision in commission payment policies. Some travel companies, like Collette, have changed their payment plans to advisors to help during these hard times, but many agents and advisors hope that more will follow suit.

August 18: Without drawing any attention to the policy change, the CDC eliminated its mandatory quarantine order, which previously applied to travelers who'd visited countries outside of the U.S. It retained its recommendation that travelers returning from countries experiencing a high incidence of COVID-19, and anyone who's been exposed to someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19, should self-quarantine for 14 days while monitoring themselves for symptoms. The CDC's identified COVID-19 risk levels for each country are outlined here. Otherwise, the organization's recommendations for those who had traveled internationally were to follow the same protocols that people should be practicing anyway: wear a mask, social distance and wash their hands often.

As summer started and mainlanders became impatient to enjoy Hawaiian beaches, the Aloha State's Governor David Ige remained adamant about enforcing the islands' mandatory 14-day quarantine for all out-of-state travelers. While two weeks holed up in a hotel room was no one's idea of a vacation, Ige refused to set a tourism reopening date.

Then, in July, a plan was hatched to begin a pre-travel testing program to opt-out of quarantine, which was originally slated for launch on August 1. But, as COVID-19 cases kept increasing and Hawaii struggled to contain its own community spread, that date was pushed back a few times before Hawaii finally reopened to tourism on October 15. Unfortunately, even at that point, county mayors remained concerned by climbing case numbers, and the Big Island decided to require that travelers test a second time upon arrival, while Kauai dropped out of the pre-travel testing program altogether.

After much controversy, the CDC decided to allow its 'No Sail Order' to expire on October 31, setting the stage for a conditional, phased return to cruise-ship operations. Cruise companies would be required to meet CDC requirements that were to be established to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 aboard ships, with new safeguards in place to protect both guests and crew members, then conduct "test voyages" in order to demonstrate that ship operations meet criteria. At present, however, major cruise lines have continued to voluntarily suspend operations until 2021, with the exception of a handful of voyages that have successfully sailed the Mediterranean.

On November 12, SeaDream Yacht Club's SeaDream I vessel was forced to turn around and return to Barbados after departing from the island only a few days prior because a guest tested positive for COVID-19. This occurred despite pre-testing policies that had passengers testing within 72 hours of embarkation, as well as taking another test on the dock prior to boarding. It was touted as the industry's first cruise to set sail in Caribbean waters since March, when global cruising halted, so the incident caused quite a disappointment.

On November 18, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) finally officially recertified the infamous Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to return to service, having been globally grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes occurred with this aircraft model. While Boeing was originally tasked with fixing the faulty software that was responsible for causing the accidents and re-training pilots to use it properly, but FAA investigators and Boeing engineers also found other issues as the work went on, pushing the plane's timeline for reintroduction back much further than anticipated.