S.O.S. vacations

13 May 2020 By Lisa Jucca Follow @LJucca

Quarantines and travel curbs will constrain holidaymakers. To prop up the $1.6 trln tourism industry, destinations with fewer Covid-19 cases may open borders to less-affected nations. For harder-hit places like Italy, subsidies can induce locals to vacation in their home country.

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The European Commission on May 13 proposed gradually reopening borders within the European Union. It urged a return to “unrestricted free movement” within Europe, with plans that include requiring face masks on airplanes and social distancing on trains.

The commission on May 8 recommended extending a ban on non-essential travel from non-EU countries to June 15. Some EU members are restricting cross-border and domestic travel, while imposing border health checks and 14-day quarantines on foreign arrivals.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on May 5 that France will limit major international travel during the summer holidays.

International tourism arrivals are expected to fall between 45% and 70% in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Tourism represents on average 4.4% of GDP of OECD countries.

The EU makes up 40% of international tourism with 562 million arrivals in 2018. The EU tourist industry makes up 10% of the bloc’s GDP and 12% of its workforce.

Before Covid-19, three-quarters of international trips made by EU citizens were to other EU countries, with 94% of overnight stays.

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