TOURISM AND TRANSPORT PACKAGE

An importan initiative on this key sector has been presented Today the 13th of May by the European Commission. The tourism and transport package is composed of three guidelines and a recommendation to help EU countries gradually lift travel restrictions, allow businesses to reopen and ensure that people in Europe can benefit from a safe and relaxing summer after months of confinement while respecting necessary health precautions.

Among the measures adopted there are communication for common guidelines for Member States to follow to resume normality in the travel and tourism sectors; among them the referred to as  "chapeau communication" COVID-19: EU Guidance for the progressive resumption of tourism services and for health protocols in hospitality establishments).

There, besides providing guidance for health protocols in hospitality establishments, the communication also enumerates the, so called, " Principles for the safe and gradual restoration of tourism activities" , whereby Member States are requested  to evaluate given specific criteria when deciding on possible relaxation of strict community measures to enable resumption of tourism activities:

i COVID-19 incidence has declined to low levels

ii Sufficient health system capacity is in place

iii Robust surveillance and monitoring is in place

iv Testing capacity is in place

v Contact tracing is in place

vi Coordination and communication mechanisms are in place

Other communications are dedicated to:

• COVID-19: Towards a phased and coordinated approach for the lifting of internal border controls and restoring freedom of movement
• COVID-19: Guidelines on the progressive restoration of transport services and connectivity

Latly, there is a recommendation to make travel vouchers an attractive alternative to cash reimbursement;

For more information on this issue you can visit the special portal of the European Commission by clicking here.

You can also watch here the streaming video of the press conference where the communication was presented.