Today, 60 European travel and tourism organizations, in which the Dutch travel industry organization ANVR is also represented, have made recommendations to EU governments to restart tourism in a coordinated way if the health situation permits.
The Dutch, one of the most travel-loving consumers in Europe, is now eager to go on a holiday or business trip. And ANVR travel companies want to do what they do best again: organize beautiful trips. After one year of being shut down practically completely and not having generated any turnover, many travel companies are in danger of going under. So it's time to work on a reboot; how can the current restrictions on international travel be relaxed and eventually lifted across Europe and beyond.
Chairman Frank Oostdam: “We strongly support the plan to come to a plan of restart together with all EU Member States, a roadmap for resuming travel, whereby we must of course take the health situation into account. In this way we can give business and leisure travelers the confidence that traveling will soon be possible again and that nothing needs to stand in the way of booking in advance. As Monday, March 1, EU ministers will discuss this further. A good thing, because there is of course no sector that can manage to generate no income at all for a year or more. ”
The recommendations made to EU Member States in the so-called Tourism Manifesto include the establishment of a task force to develop a roadmap and a recovery plan to make travel possible again. Another point, which received too little attention when the countries were closed last year, is better and effective European coordination when it comes to travel restrictions and associated measures to make life easier for travelers and travel companies.
Despite the fact that more and more countries are vaccinating more and more citizens, the recommendations also address testing. Within the EU, for example, there is a request for mutual recognition of tests, the validation of various types of (rapid) tests, sufficient test capacity and affordable tests.
And in order to prevent 27 EU countries from having to let travelers choose between 27 different health certificates, coordination is needed to quickly and digitally help the traveler on their way back to their business or holiday destination, according to ANVR on their website.
Also read: Urgent ANVR appeal: 'Use your vouchers as soon as possible'
