Without any doubt, the sudden outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic made a lot of changes in the existing rhythm of life. Self-isolation, border closures, and the inability to travel have become a huge challenge for everyone. For almost the first time in how many years, major international events, exhibitions, and sports competitions have been canceled. Needless to say, what losses did tourism suffer?
And although many countries are slowly starting to open up, Europe is wary of loosening. This is evidenced by the number of new cases of Coronavirus disease.
Hence many European countries are gradually introduced into the second lockdown.
Therefore, at the moment all care is only one question: whether to wait for the opening of European borders this year? And will the tourists enjoy the magical atmosphere of the European Christmas?
It is worth noting that based on expert opinions, Europe is unlikely to open its borders this year. Currently, the EU countries have limited entry to their territories as much as possible. Only citizens of the Schengen area and some representatives of the so-called “safe countries” have this right. The list is updated daily by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, in accordance with indicators of infection rates.
So far, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Uruguay are among the “lucky ones”.
Accordingly, other nationalities need to have good reasons for visiting Europe.
Of course, all the restrictions and lack of tourists have incredibly affected the economy of the European Union. After all, most countries, such as France, Italy, Spain, Germany, are very loved by foreigners, therefore tourism makes up a significant part of the budget of these countries. Consequently, despite the growing epidemic, the leadership of the European Union is discussing other options to prevent the increase of diseases.
So, relying on the President of the European Travel Commission, Luis Araujo, instead of a travel ban, foreigners should be required to provide a negative test result for COVID-19:
“We firmly believe that these blanket restrictions should be immediately replaced by comprehensive cost-efficient measures to minimize the risk of traveling, such as testing upon departure based on an agreed protocol and coordinated tracing systems.”
But so far the debate continues. And no one can say for sure when travelers will be able to move around the world again without restrictions. The only thing that thousands of people can currently afford to view pictures of their “desired” and favorite places and hope that in 2021 everything will change for the better.
