Air travel and Europe

The European Travel Commission (ETC) is calling on EU governments to better coordinate their Covid-19 recovery efforts by adopting a harmonised approach to lifting or reinstalling restrictions and safety measures, as tourism confidence plummets to a record low across the continent.

Taking into account the latest epidemiological developments across Europe, ETC also insists that any potential new measures should be local and science-based, avoiding imposing blanket country bans or quarantines, and should be communicated to travellers well before their travel dates.

The announcement follows on the heels of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) calling on G7 governments and others to coordinate their recovery efforts. (See BTN 10 August)  

While many Europeans are keen to travel again and enjoy summer 2020, ETC says they don’t have the confidence to book a trip given the lack of clarity around border barriers, availability of transportation, along with the health and safety protocols in their chosen destination.

New data from Sojern, (US-based) which collects and analyses travel intent data from thousands of airline and hotel partners from around the world, highlights that despite most restrictions in Europe being lifted in mid-June, European tourism is showing very slow recovery.

Domestic travel: European interest for domestic travel, as expressed in flight searches and bookings, remained very low in July 2020 with year-over-year drops of 37% and 67%, respectively.

Intra-European travel: The first two weeks of July saw a slight increase in air bookings (up 6%) for intra-European travel when compared to June.

International travel in Europe: Global searches and air bookings to Europe are also well below last year’s levels for July, down 67% and 72%.

www.coe.int/en/web/cultural-routes/european-travel-commission

www.sojern.com

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