The border closures within the European Union to curb the Corona crisis are controversial – now has Austria the first country to give a date when the border was opened. On June 15, the borders with Germany should open again. This was said by the Austrian Minister of Tourism Elisabeth Köstinger.
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The border controls should be relaxed as early as Friday. In Germany in particular, this should please many vacationers. This Wednesday, the EU Commission wants to present its recommendations on reopening borders across the EU. Despite the corona crisis, it wants to make summer holidays within the EU possible.
The Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) had on Tuesday with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on the phone. According to Köstinger, Kurz and Merkel had agreed on the date, the Reuters news agency reported. The Federal Government wants to discuss further steps at its meeting this Wednesday.
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Austrian tourism industry is dependent on German vacationers
Germany closed the border with Austria on March 16, Austria implemented the move a few days later. There are exceptions for commuters and freight transport.
The Austrian tourism industry is heavily dependent on German summer vacationers. Above all, however, the industry pushed for clarity as to the summer season. She referred to bookings from regular German guests that made it difficult for new Austrian guests to make promises.
In the summer season 2019 (May to October), 37.4 percent of the 79 million overnight stays were spent by German guests, around 30 percent by Austrians. The third most important group are the Dutch guests, who only make up five percent.
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