As pandemic curbs diminish, hopes rise for travel in EU
SWANSEA, Wales — When Sierra Schade booked a trip from Atlanta to Greece, she hoped more European countries would follow Greece’s lead and open to U.S. travelers.
She’s now been able to add Italy and France to the itinerary for her trip next month after the 27-nation European Union recommended last week that restrictions be lifted for American tourists.
As pandemic restrictions start to ease, travelers and the businesses in Europe that rely on them are eager for a return to something resembling normal.
In 2019, before the pandemic, tourism and related activities accounted for 10% of the EU’s GDP, meaning the return of international travel is key to economic recovery, particularly for countries like Greece and Italy that rely more heavily on it. That figure was cut nearly in half in 2020, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
There is guarded optimism about tourists returning this year, though the EU doesn’t expect growth in the industry to return to 2019 levels until at least 2023.
Within Europe, governments use a traffic light system where countries in green are deemed safe and countries in red unsafe, but they don’t all use the same criteria, befuddling those who want to take a trip.
And while the EU agreed that member countries should gradually remove restrictions on travelers from the U.S. and a handful of other countries, it’s ultimately up to each individual country to decide how and when it wants to open its borders.
Things could get a bit easier, at least for Europeans, when the EU Digital COVID Certificate comes into effect next week. The certificates will certify EU citizens’ tests and vaccinations, allowing them to travel between countries without having to quarantine or undergo tests.
Jennifer Janzen, from Europe’s largest airline association, Airlines for Europe, is hopeful the certificate, if adopted widely, will help combat
Europeans’ confusion about travel, merging “27 different systems in order to travel, to one single system.”
Recent data from the European Travel Commission found that two-thirds of Europeans plan to travel by the end of November.
Executive director and CEO Eduardo Santander said the travel industry in Europe is feeling additional relief and optimism with American travelers allowed in once again.
“U.S. travelers (are) very important for a lot of European destinations that really depend on them and their market power,” he said, adding that these travelers often visit multiple countries at a time.
But Europeans are still not allowed to visit the U.S., and Santander said that lack of reciprocity is posing a challenge for airlines that would prefer not to fly empty planes back to the U.S.
Still, U.S. airlines have scrambled to add new trans-Atlantic flight destinations in wake of the recent news, with American Airlines spokesperson Nate Gatten welcoming it as a “positive development.”