May 14, 2020

Andrew Campbell 

After months of Coronavirus lockdown, European Commission presented a package of guidelines and recommendations, unveiled at the press release on May 13 named “Tourism and transport: Commission's guidance on how to safely resume travel and reboot Europe's tourism in 2020 and beyond”, to help member states gradually lift travel restrictions and allow tourism businesses to reopen.

The Joint European Roadmap was first published on April 14 by the Commission in cooperation with the European Council and provided a gradual approach to phasing-out containment measures imposed due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

While respecting necessary health precautions, the Commission's Tourism and Transport package includes an overall strategy towards recovery - a common approach to restoring free movement and lifting restrictions at EU internal borders in a gradual and coordinated way, a framework to support the gradual re-establishment of transport whilst ensuring the safety of passengers and personnel, a recommendation on travel vouchers for consumers, and the criteria for restoring tourism activities safely and gradually and for developing health protocols for hospitality establishments.

Statistics show accommodation, food, recreation or culture, travel, and transport contribute to 10% of EU GDP and provide a key source of employment and income in most European regions. Most EU nations are currently severed behind the firewall of quarantines or sealed frontiers; the Commission's Tourism and Transport package will be eagerly anticipated to relax restrictions for summer tourism soon.