The travel industry is slowly recovering from some of the losses it suffered due to the pandemic but faces challenges in student travel.Many students are still restricted from traveling, have visa problems, or fear about new Covid variants.The good news? Starting August 1, the United States will extend its national interests exemptions (NIEs), to international students who have F-1 or M-1 visas and intend to start or continue their program in fall. They will no longer have to apply for a national interest form at an embassy in order to travel. Students from Europe's Schengen region, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom were exempted from the NIEs.Since covid sent them home last summer, this is the latest step towards reopening the school for international students.After a year of being grounded the 2021-22 academic calendar looks grim for the travel industry, to which students have historically contributed.According to Daniel Lloyd, Senior Vice-President, U.S. operations at Diversity Travel, "No one wants this year to be written off." However, this is just the beginning. We still need to rebound and recover. It is crucial for many industries, including the travel industry.According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, international students contributed $45 Billion to the U.S. overall economy in the peak year of 2018, according to their figures. The number had dropped to $38.7 million by the 2019-20 academic year. According to NAFSA, an international advocacy group for education, 415,996 jobs were supported by international students in the 2019-20 academic years. This represents a 42,000 drop from the previous academic year. The Commerce Department didn't break out travel.It is clear that their tuition and accommodation fees are the largest contributors. International students tend to pay more than students from their home country. Their travel and leisure expenses are included.Zihan Liu is a doctoral student at the University of Houston. She found it difficult to travel outside the U.S. Liu stated that while she was grounded, she missed out social events and connections back home in China with her family and friends.Liu stated that two of my best friends were married this year and I had to miss them. I also missed family events that I wanted to attend, but couldn't.Unfeasible flights and longer quarantine times in China and the U.S. were two of the reasons she couldn't go home.VisasThe NIEs are a great idea, but implementation is dependent on the availability of an American embassy or consulate. Cato Institute, a public policy research organization, found that three-quarters of the four consulates are still closed for routine visa processing. This affects approximately 71% of visa applicants.This was the greatest challenge Christiane Spitzmueller faced when she tried to recruit students for her University of Houston psychology program.Spitzmueller stated that some of these offices are only available for emergencies. It is now much more difficult to get appointments, and people are faced with a greater challenge than before the pandemic.The number of academic student visas has been steadily decreasing over the past five year, but 2020 saw a 70% decrease in applications compared to 2019.Attraction LossFor the past five years, the number of international students studying in the United States has exceeded a million. The 2018-19 peak was close to 1.1 million students. This is according to the 2020 Open Doors Report for International Educational Exchange, released by the Institute of International Education and the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.With the highest international student enrollment, the U.S. is regarded as the most attractive destination. The U.K. is second.Lloyd said that everyone underestimates the power of the UK-US corridor. It had a significant financial impact on the industry, even though that corridor is still closed.The U.K. witnessed a 12.15% increase in foreign student enrollment during the academic year 2019-20 compared to previous years. On the other side, the U.S. saw a decrease of 1.8 percent.Some schools even take steps to encourage international students to return to campus, and promote interest in their study abroad and foreign exchange programs.Wendy Morrill is the WYSE Travel Confederation's research and education manager. I knew that this was going to be a huge difference from when it all began. Some people spoke about how they tried to replicate that through social media and online content creation.Scrambling BusinessesThey are so important to local tourism, that businesses find it difficult to survive without them.Tour operators and other leisure businesses have noticed a decrease in students, and have made a profit by partnering with student accommodation providers such as hostels.Morrill stated that if things move in a positive direction, you'll see it again. It is another area that has been negatively impacted by the absence of international students.Destinations and hostels are looking to tap into domestic travel for families.Morrill stated that as long as international students don't come in, they know from their hustled international network that they really want to tap into the domestic market. They have shared accommodation that works well for families with small kids.RestrictionsThe NIEs does open the country temporarily, but advisors feel that the lack of clarity on requirements for students migrating into the U.S. in terms of Covid vaccines and quarantines at the federal level is restrictive. Schools are currently left with the decision of who can enter and leave campus.Schools offering scholarships to international students need to have clear guidelines to avoid sending their students abroad.Lloyd stated that we are in a completely different world, now dealing with anxious travelers.The U.S. isn't the only country that lacks clearer federal guidelines. Some countries, such as Australia, have taken the initiative to act on their own.In comparison to the U.S., the availability and rates of Covid vaccines around the world are much lower than in the U.S. Students will find it hard to commit to the academic school this fall due to a lack of Covid vaccines in some parts of the globe.Lloyd stated that the United States can send out a message as confidently and as easily as it wants, that American travelers who have been vaccinated can be accepted by other countries. It all depends on that. The UK-U.S. corridor is the best way to return to travel.
