Will we be able to travel to Europe this summer? At a time when countries are emerging from the confinement, the horizon seems made up only of uncertainties: reinstated border controls, planes nailed to the ground, fluctuating rules of social distancing. Book a stay in July and August 2020 is a lottery, so threatens a possible second epidemic wave. Some areas will be open to tourists, others will not
, conceded last week Thierry Breton, the european commissioner at the Internal Market.
The question is even more acute for professionals. The World Tourism Organization expects the number of international travelers to fall by 60 to 80% by 2020, in line with the two-thirds decline observed last month in Spain, second world destination.
Tourism sector weighs 3.9% of EU GDP
The sector of tourism employs 12.3 million people (5.1% of the workforce) in the EU, which catches half of these travelers. It weighs 3.9% of the Union’s GDP, up to 12% in Spain and 20% in Croatia. Given the close links with other sectors, the contribution of tourism is even higher: more than 10.3% of GDP and 11.7% of total employment, or 27 million people
, calculates Benjamin Klaus Wilhelm Blaser, of the think tank of the European Parliament.
Tourism is of almost vital importance to Greeks, who continue to bail out their sinking economy in 2010. 100% of my reservations were canceled for April, May and June
, notes Stefania Dimitroula, an Athenian who rents her apartment on Airbnb. Relatively spared by the Covid-19, with 14 deaths per million inhabitants (thirty times less than in France), Greece is hastening its pace: the Acropolis and the archaeological sites will reopen on May 18.
Towards free movement between member countries?
The Sicily, according to Giornale di Sicilia, wants to spend 50 million euros on 600,000 coupons. Its visitors would benefit from half-price plane tickets and one free hotel night for three reserved women. More devastated and cautious, Spain (576 dead per million inhabitants) yesterday introduced fourteen days of confinement and the mandatory mask for anyone arriving in the country, until May 24 so far. This does not prevent coastal cities from compartmentalizing the beaches for the season.
So far, everyone has acted in dispersed order. The European Commission working on a rescue. Agree to keep the EU’s external borders closed, she says Politico, to re-establish in freedom of movement between member countries, first between the “green zones” relatively spared by the Covid-19. This could go through tests.
Brussels is also under pressure from Germany and eleven states to exempt airlines (-90% of revenue) and hotels (-50%) from a European regulation forcing them to reimburse canceled services, which jeopardizes up to 6.4 million jobs. The Commission would accept that these reimbursements be replaced by vouchers, which are themselves guaranteed by each State if they are not used by their due date. It is also the confidence of tourists that must be restored.
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