Europe is the world’s leading tourism destination. But COVID-19 has heavily affected the tourism industry. What is the way forward?
For centuries, Europe has held a magnetic attraction for travellers – from the ruins of past civilisations in Rome and Athens to the beautiful Spanish coasts, the tantalising French menu, central Europe’s charms and Valletta’s grace, the continent is a treasure trove for travellers.
This has developed into a vibrant tourism ecosystem which contributes heavily to member states’ and the EU GDP – almost 10 per cent of EU GDP in 2019 and in Malta’s case, 11 per cent of the country’s GDP. Apart from enabling travel, transport, food, culture and recreation businesses, tourism is also a key source of employment, employing 27 million people.
The industry is fuelled by Europeans’ desire to explore and travel. In fact, 267 million Europeans (62 per cent of the EU population) make at least one private leisure trip per year, while 78 per cent of Europeans spend their holidays in their home country or another European country. The attraction is not just internal, but worldwide – as the EU is the world’s leading tourism destination, with over 560 million international arrivals and 30 per cent of global receipts in 2018.
Tourism, however, depends on mobility – and given social restrictions, lockdowns and the closure of borders, tourism has been one of the most affected by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The losses are expected to be huge – the World Tourism Organisation foresees a reduction of between 60 to 80 per cent in international arrivals, translating into losses of between €840 and €1,100bn.
For the tourism sector, summer is especially critical – in an average summer holiday season, EU residents make some 385 million trips, spending around €190bn. This means that saving summer – and planning for tourism in the long-term – is key. It is for this reason that the European Parliament has consistently called for support for the tourism sector through funding, a targeted roadmap and EU coordination.
On March 24, Parliament’s Tourism Task Force called for a tourism rescue action plan with concrete short- to medium-term measures. On April 15, the European Commission and European Council presidents published a joint European roadmap towards lifting COVID-19 containment measures. This sets out how internal border controls should be lifted gradually, followed by a second stage where temporary restrictions at the external borders could be relaxed, thus enabling non-essential travel and tourism – taking into account the spread of the coronavirus outside the EU, with restrictions to non-essential travel to the EU continuously reviewed.
Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee, on April 21, urged the Commission to come up with a European action plan to help the tourism sector overcome the crisis. This demand for a sector-specific recovery plan and strategy was echoed across the political spectrum, with a call for more clarity on travel and movement in the coming months.
Invited by the Committee on Transport and Tourism, on May 13 the Commission presented the Tourism and Transport package – with the aim of assisting member states to gradually lift travel restrictions, allowing tourism businesses to reopen and helping the EU tourism sector recover from the pandemic.
Since tourism depends on free movement across the EU, the package recommends a phased and coordinated approach for lifting internal border controls and restoring freedom of movement. This – together with restoring the Schengen area – requires close coordination between member states and the commission.
The package calls for a flexible approach – including the possibility to reintroduce certain measures depending on health issues. Therefore, member states should act on the basis of three criteria: epidemiological, using the regional map developed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control; the ability to apply containment measures throughout a traveller’s whole journey; and economic and social considerations, initially giving priority to cross-border movement in key areas of activity and personal reasons.
The principle of non-discrimination is highlighted in these guidelines – therefore, when a member state decides to allow travel into its territory or to specific areas within its territory, it should do so in a non-discriminatory manner, allowing travel from all EU countries with similar epidemiological conditions.
The safety of travellers and those working in the industry are paramount. The guidelines therefore recommend limiting contact between passengers and transport workers, and passengers amongst each other, using personal protective equipment, robust surveillance, monitoring and testing capacity; and the cross-border interoperability of tracing apps.
With regards to vouchers, the Commission recommended that vouchers become a more attractive alternative, through generous conditions, to reimbursement for cancelled trips – this within the context of the heavy financial strains suffered by operators in the tourism sector. The Commission also aims to relieve these strains by ensuring liquidity for tourism businesses through EU funding, flexibility under state aid rules, the SURE programme through which jobs can be safeguarded.
Complementing the short-term measures, the EU Commission aims to work with individual member states to promote sustainable tourism in line with the European Green Deal and encourage the digital transformation of tourism services.
MEPs gave positive feedback to the package – but underlined the need to restore trust in safe travelling through additional concrete measures. The Tourism Task Force Steering Group was also positive in its reaction, but also called for further strategy to respond to current challenges, as well as medium- and long-term needs of the tourism sector.
During the June plenary session, the European Parliament called for additional measures to save the EU’s tourism and travel sector and make it future-proof after COVID-19 crisis. The resolution on transport and tourism in 2020 and beyond was adopted by 597 votes in favour, 32 against and 46 abstentions. The resolution identifies areas where further action is needed, including short-term financing to avoid businesses going bankrupt and to support workers, and long-term recovery.
Among other measures, the resolution also proposes: developing an early alert system that warns tourists about any potential health threat at their destination; creating an EU safety certificate for establishments and operators; and launching a dedicated information campaign.
MEPs said that the crisis is a historic opportunity to modernise tourism and make it more sustainable, environmentally friendly and economically sound.
MEP Josianne Cutajar, a member of the TRAN committee and the transport taskforce, says that when COVID-19 hit Europe, it was immediately clear that the impact on tourism would not be mild.
“As outlets reopened, and airports are set to resume operations, our work must focus on rekindling public trust and confidence in tourism,” she said.
“The EU’s emergency measures were essential in the midst of the outbreak. Financial measures safeguarded employment to some extent; the suspension of the Slots Regulation limited airlines’ losses; and the Commission’s recommendations based on the European Parliament’s pressure instilled sensitivity and sensibility amid the tension that took over.
“With 7.5 million flights cancelled in the first half of the year and airline losses reaching $84.3bn internationally, something had to be done if we were to have an aviation industry after COVID-19. Last week, an overwhelming majority of MEPs favoured my argument for sensitivity and sensibility, and called for common rules for vouchers that are transferable, flexible, and that may be used for a longer period. Such solutions give vital breathing space to struggling airlines, but refrain from diminishing consumer protection. Even if tourism remains subject to national competence, a common European approach clearly protects smaller players in the global market, like Maltese and Gozitan enterprises.
“A European Travel Guarantee Fund would provide the greatest certainty in this aspect, making sure that consumers are protected should companies become insolvent.
“Throughout the crisis, the Commission was flexible with financial regulations, enabling governments to protect their most sensitive sectors. The same flexibility, especially in the State Aid framework, must remain in place until we fully recover, at least in relation to islands, whose dependency on tourism is generally higher.
“With 90 per cent of the tourism sector comprised of SMEs, they will benefit heavily from the EU’s €1.8 trillion plan to revive Europe’s economy. However, as emphasised in this week’s resolution, the recovery plan must include the possibility for Member States to inject their aid directly to the tourism industry, based of course on the sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP.
“While demand is expected to stay low for the first few months, making information on countries’ epidemiological state and rules widely available will be key to instil confidence and motivate people to travel again. Introducing Uniform Assessment Criteria to allow travellers into a country represents the fairest way to add certainty, foster trust, and mitigate the risk of a second wave.
“Caution is key. In retaining the green and digital transitions as main priorities, the Recovery Fund provides an opportunity for local businesses to accelerate their upgrades. Digital solutions, as many have discovered, are splendid tools in fulfilling new health and safety standards.
“Financial aid and discipline will help our sector recover. Growing trust will result in growing numbers.
“In making sure those numbers grow, our role now is to mould as quickly as possible an effective European Tourism Strategy, making the sector more resilient and able to weather any future storm.”
MEP Alex Agius Saliba, a member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, said that the fact that the Commission came forward with a package and is looking at a coordinated framework is in itself a very positive first step.
“At this critical juncture we need to enhance cooperation and coordination between Member States and the Commission needs to have a clearly defined leading role. It is crucial for the EU to assess the situation properly, seek common goals and focus on reaching them through a single strategy – we surely cannot afford to have 27 different strategies if we want to fully restore the freedom of movement in the shortest possible time.
“This in no way means there should be a unilateral decision to have borders opened and full freedom of movement restored at once. We must remain vigilant and seek to keep public health as the main priority.
“Nevertheless, now that in the past couple of weeks steady and sustained progress has been registered all across Europe and COVID-19 cases have been constantly declining, we must not lose focus and must get the recovery right. Moreover, in light of the fact that most Member States have started lifting restrictions and opening their borders, the approach adopted by the Commission to address the immediate and future challenges of the tourism and the transport industry through cooperation between Member States is definitely the way forward.
“The coordinated approach towards lifting restrictions is in line with the proposal of safe corridors, which is essentially the strategy adopted by the Government. This is crucial at this point if we want to stimulate the economy, push for the gradual re-establishment of tourism and ultimately restore the confidence of citizens to travel again within the Union. It will not be an easy task, but this cautious approach at Union level should aid to safely kick-start our economies and will be complementing the Government’s efforts to re-vitalise this important industry through the gradual relaxation of restrictions.
“A key element of this recovery which goes hand in hand with this tourism package will be the allocation of appropriate funding, and that is why in tandem, an agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027 and the Recovery Plan should be sought as soon as possible. Specific problems faced by member states and regions at the periphery of the EU should be addressed – being an island Member State we are geographically isolated and have connectivity problems, a permanent handicap which makes the aviation sector more than just an integral part of our tourism sector. Aviation is our bridge to the rest of the world and our most important connecting factor. Hence in these delicate circumstances, airlines need to be heavily supported especially since they will probably have to fly at below capacity levels, which means more costs and less profit.”
New website to help tourists and travellers launched
The European Commission has just launched Re-open EU, a web platform with essential information allowing a safe relaunch of free movement and tourism across Europe.
To help people confidently plan their travels and holidays during the summer and beyond, the platform will provide real-time information on borders, available means of transport, travel restrictions, public health and safety measures such as on physical distancing or wearing of facemasks, as well as other practical information for travellers.
Re-open EU will act as a key point of reference for anyone travelling in the EU as it centralises up-to-date information from the Commission and the member states in one place. It will allow people to browse country-specific information for each member state through an interactive map, offering updates on applicable national measures as well as practical advice for visitors in the country. The platform is available in the 24 official EU languages.
And as many things during the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism has also gone digital: Europe's digital cultural platform, Europeana, is launching Discovering Europe, a collection of artworks and photographs of some of Europe's most iconic landmarks, tempting visitors. A dedicated tourism hub will be created on Europeana Pro to help cultural heritage professionals discover initiatives supporting tourism throughout the EU.
A service brought to you by the European Parliament Office in Malta, with the cooperation of the European Commission Representation in Malta. #EuropeansAgainstCovid19