El Pasoans gear up for summer travel in wake of new CDC guidance
EL PASO, Texas -- An El Paso travel agent says people are preparing to travel again, boosted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcement that fully vaccinated people can travel without much risk.
It’s an indication that with the vaccine roll-out, people are more comfortable boarding planes.
Travel agent Nick Stark told ABC-7 on Saturday that the number of El Pasoans booking trips for this summer has now exploded.
“Literally phone ringing off the hook, emails, everyone’s like 'help us out,'” Stark said.
According to Stark, his host agency has sold $43 million dollars in future travel over the past month.
“Everyone’s going more private, definitely more luxury, more exotic,” Stark said. “Everybody's moving their bucket list trips up higher.”
Stark went to Cabo recently to experience what travelling is like now.
“It’s just really a little bit modified, that's all I'd really tell people,” Stark said. “Things are operating and everything is open."
On Friday, the same day as the new CDC guidance was released, the federal Transportation Security Administration said it screened 1,580,785 people at U.S. airport checkpoints - the highest number since March 12 of last year.
