The travel industry is pleased that it was announced during the press conference that the orange travel advice, previously set generically by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the entire world until May 15, will expire and will be replaced from mid-May by a travel advice that is individually per country. determined. Add to this the approval of the European Parliament and the Commission to achieve an 'EU Covid-19 certificate' for travelers and the sector and holidaymakers can look forward to a beautiful summer. The sector is therefore confident that the cabinet will provide an internationally recognized vaccination or test certificate in good time that enables travelers to travel abroad.
"Several countries have already announced that they are fully ready to receive travelers safely and corona-proof. And that the Dutchman is ready for a holiday, as has been shown by the many tens of thousands of registrations for the few trial trips that have been carried out. still reluctant, in recent days we have noticed that the bookings are clearly increasing although we still have a long way to go to get to the normal level, but everyone can book with peace of mind with our travel companies, they are ready. in the unlikely event that a trip cannot be carried out, the consumer can rebook his trip or get his money back. Of course it does mean that the Netherlands must continue to work on reducing the number of infections, so that holiday countries also want to continue to receive Dutch holidaymakers " .
No distinction worldwide and free test
The travel industry is pleased with the abolition of generic travel advice. Although only a very limited number of destinations will become 'yellow' from 15 May, she assumes that in the coming weeks, when determining individual travel advice for each country, European destinations will increasingly receive the predicate 'yellow' or 'green', which means that the choice of holiday countries is growing this summer.
The ANVR would like to strongly emphasize that, in an individual assessment per destination, no distinction is made between countries within or outside the EU, so that a number of distant destinations may also be traveled. The travel industry is a strong supporter of a European-harmonized digital “EU-Covid-19 certificate” that allows free travel within Europe again without restrictive measures or additional requirements. But here, too, no distinction should be made between vaccination or testing. Following the example of other European countries, a necessary PCR test should be provided free of charge, according to the ANVR. Travelers and the travel sector are ultimately imposed on this measure from the government.
"I am thinking of three points that I want to bring to the attention of the outgoing cabinet. I argue that entrepreneurs should be allowed to spread the repayment of their tax debts over several years, that the existing aid package continues until the end of this year and that the existing imperfections in the current generic support package, which, for example, bypassing smaller companies and self-employed travel agents, are ironed out, so that they are still eligible for support. of the crisis therefore calls for sector-specific support for these entrepreneurs. "
Loss of turnover high; financial support remains necessary
Although the travel sector is looking forward to a somewhat normal summer, that does not alter the fact that Oostdam emphasizes that his sector - after about 15 months practically does not travel - is still dependent on government support. “Surely it cannot be the case that travel companies fail at the last minute; financial support for our sector remains really necessary. Even with a good summer, we expect on average about 50% less turnover than in 2019; and if your focus as a travel operator is on destinations outside the EU, the loss of turnover is even more dramatic ”. Thus the ANVR.