Why Are So Many Celebrities Holidaying During The Pandemic?

Celebrity holiday photos are all over social media right now.

While Covid is wreaking absolute havoc around the world some celebrities, influencers and reality TV stars are still traveling abroad for unnecessarily fun-looking holidays.  

It’s being seen as in quite poor taste because Covid death rates are still increasing overseas, and here in Australia our holiday season has been hugely impacted by the pre-Xmas outbreaks. 

So, what is going on here? How and why are these celebrities still travelling? 

Aspen, The Bahamas, Barbados, Paris … 

The UK is now in its third national lockdown and most states in the US are tightening restrictions as Covid cases continue to surge.  

But the Jenner sisters spent New Year’s Eve skiing in Aspen, even though LA (where they live) is under a stay-at-home order. 

They’re not the only celebrities who‘ve been finding ways jet off over the holidays.  

Charli D’Amelio was spotted in the Bahamas with other TikTok influencers like Noah Beck and Chase Hudson, and stars from the British reality shows Geordie Shore and Love Island travelled to Dubai and the Maldives. 

D’Amelio’s fans were really pissed off. Her trip to the Bahamas felt like a massive double standard because when lockdown first started, she told her fans to stay home and “stop being inconsiderate”. 

These overseas trips aren’t just a 2021 thing. 

Back in August, Kylie Jenner shared photos of herself posing in Paris that weren’t throwbacks. People were really confused, because France has been off-limits to US travellers since March. 

And earlier in July, Drake rolled through Barbados with a group of friends when the US was approaching nearly 5 million Covid cases. 

How and why are they doing this? 

Perks Of The Job 

Well, there’s literally been a different set of travel rules for influencers throughout the pandemic. 

Travel exemptions are granted to “highly qualified third-country workers” whose work is deemed necessary to the economy and unable to be postponed. 

These rules have essentially meant that if a celebrity or influencer is promoting a place, brand or item, then it’s business as usual.

And even though Covid has closed Australia off to the rest of the world, at different times travel bubbles have been open in Europe, and people in the US have been allowed to visit certain countries.   

Which means if you’re Kim Kardashian, there’s nothing stopping you from hiring an island for your 40th birthday and flying over all your rich and famous friends. 

Most governments have told people to avoid unnecessary travel and so naturally people are pretty pissed off at the celebrities who jetted off over the new year. 

They’ve been taking to social media to call out these celebrities, telling them to read the room and stop putting others’ lives at risk. 

There are real consequences to unnecessary travel. Mexico, which has had more than half a million visitors since last November – mostly from the US – saw a huge rise in cases because of it. The country has had over 134,000 deaths since the pandemic started. 

The Takeaway 

Whether influencers should be seen as “highly qualified third-country workers” is a massive conversation in itself. 

But having to watch their holidays play out over social media isn’t really the content people want to be seeing right now. And given the ongoing seriousness of Covid around the world, it’s totally understandable that the whole situation has left a really bad taste in people’s mouths.