Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 May, 2020 at 3:26 pm by Andre Camilleri
The European Commission presents a package of guidelines and recommendations to help Member States gradually lift travel restrictions and allow tourism businesses to reopen, after months of lockdown, while respecting necessary health precautions.
The package also aims to help the EU tourism sector recover from the pandemic, by supporting businesses and ensuring that Europe continues to be the number one destination for visitors.
The Commission’s Tourism and Transport package includes an overall strategy towards recovery in 2020 and beyond, a common approach to restoring free movement and lifting restrictions at EU internal borders in a gradual and coordinated way, a framework to support the gradual re-establishment of transport whilst ensuring the safety of passengers and personnel, a recommendation which aims to make travel vouchers an attractive alternative to cash reimbursement for consumers and criteria for restoring tourism activities safely and gradually and for developing health protocols for hospitality establishments such as hotels.
A press release and a Q&A with more information are available online.
Executive Vice-President Vestager and Commissioner Breton will hold a press conference to present the strategic orientations of the Tourism and Transport Package at 12:00 CET. It will be followed by a press conference with Commissioners Kyriakides, Johansson and Vălean on the practical recommendations of the Package. Follow them live on EbS.
