Europe Prepares To Reopen Tourism Sector, But Unlikely To Reach Pre-pandemic Level Soon

Europe prepares to reopen tourism sector, but unlikely to reach pre-pandemic level soon

VALLETTA, May 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th May, 2021 ) :-- With the speedy rollout of vaccinations, Europe has witnessed an improved COVID-19 pandemic situation and called for reopening its tourism sector.

The Digital Green Certificate, introduced by the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), and expected to be implemented from June, will help ease restrictions on non-essential travels to the EU.

Industry insiders and observers said that those measures will give a boost to the gloomy tourism sector though there is a long way to go before the sector reaches the pre-pandemic levels.

EAGER TO REOPEN Earlier this month, ministers of tourism from the Group of 20, comprising 19 countries and the EU, pledged support for "safe international mobility initiatives" as a way to help relaunch the world's tourism industry.

The Portuguese presidency of the EU urged member states to "act without delay" to save European tourism from the COVID-19 crisis by speeding up a digital health passport scheme.

The European Commission also called on its member states to grant entry to travelers fully vaccinated and those coming from countries with low infection rates.

At the end of April, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a four-stage plan to allow foreign tourists back to France with a "health pass" by June 9.

Greece, whose tourism accounts for about one-fifth of its GDP and employment, announced the reopening of its tourism on May 14.

The EU aims to vaccinate 70 percent of its adults by July, and some European countries plan to stimulate the recovery of tourism by injecting large amounts of money into the sector.

The Spanish government presented a "recovery, transformation and resilience plan (2021-2023)" to the EU on April 29, which will allocate about 3.4 billion Euros (4.1 billion U.S. Dollars) to the tourism sector in the coming three years.

In the Mediterranean island country of Malta, the government is planning to welcome tourists from June 1. It will also inject 20 million euros (24.3 million dollars) through an aid package to kickstart the tourism industry.