Jim Byers’ Signs of Hope Blog: European Tourism Readies For a Big Bump

March 12, 2021 Jim Byers

Greece is throwing its doors open to limited tourists on May 14. Portugal says they’re very close to allowing visitors back into the country. And the UK’s travel ban is set to be lifted on May 17.

The cursed COVID-19 virus could still throw everything out the proverbial window, but right now a number of European countries have spring on their minds, and tourism officials have a spring in their step.

According to the website Schengenvisainfo.com, which reports on travel in the European Union’s 26-country Schengen zone, Greek tourism minister Harry Theoharis has announced that the country is opening its borders on May 14.

The minister also said that only people who have been vaccinated or who test negative for COVID-19 will be allowed into the country. He also said visitors will be subject to rapid testing.

After the announcement of the decision, hotel booking rates have increased drastically, the Schengen visa site said, with some hotels being already occupied by 70 per cent of their capacity for the month of May and June. Yikes.

Meanwhile, Rita Marques, the secretary of state for tourism in Portugal told the BBC that borders could open soon.

“For the time being non-essential journeys have to be restricted but we believe Portugal can allow unrestricted travel very soon – not just for vaccinated people but for those who are immune or who have tested negative,” she said.

The website traveloffpath.com reports that lockdowns could be eased and more services opened up as soon as April 1.

Bloomberg News today reports that a number of European Union countries are seeking to have travel restrictions eased. The EU last month imposed a ban on non-essential travel from non-European countries, but with vaccinations on the rise, European states that rely on tourism are pushing to allow more visitors.

Transat president and CEO Jean Marc Eustache on Thursday said his airline is hoping to restart operations in mid-June, when he hopes traditional Canadian interest in visiting Europe will be renewed.

The UK currently has a law in place that forbids international travel. But that ban is set to expire on May 17, and sun-starved Brits are likely to want to hit the road as soon as possible. There are reports that the Mediterrean island of Ibiza plans to run their own vaccine passport program this summer, which would allow passengers from all over the world to visit.

Airline Outlook Improving

Air traffic recovery in the US and Canada was slower at the beginning of the year than previously forecast but is expected to accelerate heading into the summer months with greater vaccination rates and the release of pent-up travel demand, says New York-based Fitch Ratings.

“The recovery will be led by leisure travel, with domestic leisure and origination and destination airports expected to rebound more quickly than international gateways or those with a high reliance on business travellers.”

An airline recovery in Canada would be fantastic, but there’s still no word on when the Trudeau government will have any kind of sector-specific financial package for the battered aviation industry. The talks began in early November, which is now a third of a year ago. And yet there’s STILL no deal, which is absurd.

Transat’s Eustache agrees. Speaking to the media during a conference call this week, Eustache sounded rather impatient about the delays.

“The government is still talking,” he said. “They are talking a little bit with us. They are talking to Air Canada. We know they are talking to all the airlines. But in the meantime nothing is happening with that. We are crying and we are asking. Everybody is asking for that.”

Accor Hotels Offers COVID Testing

World leading augmented hospitality group Accor announced today a partnership with the leader in next-generation digital healthcare technologies x.labs to provide COVID-19 testing options to leisure guests and groups across
all Accor-managed hotels in the U.S. and Canada, including Fairmont.

Starting this month, guests can purchase PreCheck PCR testing kits by x.labs at all Accormanaged hotels in the U.S. and Canada. PreCheck kits combine the latest in smart tech and digital healthcare with an in-app wellness and symptom survey, FDA-approved Bluetooth smart thermometer and FDA-authorized COVID-19 self-collection diagnostic PCR test that provides results in as little as 24-48 hours.

PreCheck PCR testing kits will also be available to order directly from x.labs for at-home testing prior to traveling through a special co-branded Accor and x.labs website. Through this site only, testing kits are available at no cost for U.S. residents, through insurance providers and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Health Care Enhancement Act, and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Accor Hotel groups includes Fairmont, Novotel, Raffles, Sofitel, Ibis and many other brands.

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