LONDON (AP) 鈥� Chaos and confusion over travel rules and measures to contain new virus outbreaks are contributing to another cruel summer for Europe鈥檚 battered tourism industry.
Popular destination countries are grappling with surging COVID-19 variants, but the patchwork and last-minute nature of the efforts as the peak season gets underway threatens to derail another summer.
In France, the world’s most visited country, visitors to cultural and tourist sites were confronted this week with a new requirement for a special COVID-19 pass.
To get the pass, which comes in paper or digital form, people must prove they’re either fully vaccinated or recently recovered from an infection, or produce a negative virus test. Use of the pass could extend next month to restaurants and cafes.
Italy said Thursday that people will need a similar pass to access museums and movie theaters, dine inside restaurants and cafes, and get into pools, casinos and a range of other venues.
At the Eiffel Tower, unprepared tourists lined up for quick virus tests so they could get the pass to visit the Paris landmark. Johnny Nielsen, visiting from Denmark with his wife and two children, questioned the usefulness of the French rules.
鈥淚f I get tested now, I can go but then I (could) get corona in the queue right here,” Nielsen said, though he added they wouldn’t change their plans because of it.
Juan Truque, a tourist from Miami, said he wasn’t vaccinated but took a test so he could travel to France via Spain with his mother.
鈥淣ow they are forcing you to wear masks and to do similar kind of things that are impositions to you. To me, they are violations to your freedom.鈥� he said.
Europe’s vital travel and tourism industry is desperate to make up after a disastrous 2020. International tourist arrivals to Europe last year plunged by nearly 70%, and for the first five months of this year, they’re down 85%, according to U.N. World Tourism Organization figures.
American, Japanese and Chinese travelers aren’t confident it will be possible to visit and move freely within Europe, the European Travel Commission said. International arrivals are forecast to remain at nearly half their 2019 level this year, though domestic demand will help make up the shortfall.
The U.K.鈥檚 statistics office suspended its monthly international passenger data, because it said there aren鈥檛 enough people arriving 鈥渢o provide robust estimates.鈥�
The United States this week upgraded its travel warning for Britain to the highest level. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans to avoid traveling to the country because of the risk of contracting COVID-19 variants, while the U.S. State Department raised its alert level to 鈥渄o not travel鈥� from the previous less severe 鈥渞econsider travel鈥� advisory.
The recommendations are constantly under review and not binding, although they may affect group tours and insurance rates. Britain鈥檚 warning has fluctuated several times this year already.
Some countries are showing signs of a rebound, however.
Spain, the world’s second-most visited country, received 3.2 million tourists from January to May 鈥� a tenth of the amount in the same period of 2019. But visits surged in June with 2.3 million arrivals, the best monthly figure since the start of the pandemic, although still only 75% of the figure from two years ago.
Spain鈥檚 secretary of state for tourism, Fernando Vald茅s, credited the European Union’s deployment in June of its digital COVID-19 vaccine passport for having a 鈥渁 positive impact鈥� on foreign arrivals. That, and the U.K. move to allow nonessential travel, 鈥渁llowed us to start the 2021 summer season in the best conditions,鈥� he said.
The EU app allows the bloc鈥檚 residents to show they鈥檝e been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from the virus.
In Greece, where COVID-19 infections are also rising sharply, authorities have openly expressed concern that slowing vaccination rates could hurt the struggling tourism industry, a mainstay of the economy. Authorities have tightened restrictions for unvaccinated tourists and residents, banning their entry to all indoor dining and entertainment venues.
Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis urged the travel industry to put on a brave face.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very important that we do not give the impression that we have lost control of the pandemic,” Georgiadis said last week.
Some countries sparked chaos with last-minute changes to entry rules.
Denmark鈥檚 decision to upgrade Britain to its 鈥渞ed鈥� list of countries with tighter travel restrictions threw London resident Richard Moorby鈥檚 vacation plans into disarray.
Moorby originally planned to go to Copenhagen in August to meet up with his Danish wife and their two children visiting his in-laws 鈥� like they did last summer. But under current rules Moorby wouldn鈥檛 have been able to travel separately because he鈥檚 not Danish. They planned instead to travel together, which they thought would be allowed even after the change 鈥� but they missed the announcement鈥檚 fine print prohibiting non-Danes from 鈥渞ed list鈥� countries including the U.K. from visiting without a worthy purpose, which doesn鈥檛 include tourism.
鈥淚t was going to be a bit of a non-holiday anyway,鈥� Moorby said. But 鈥渋t went from, 鈥榃e鈥檇 have a nice holiday in Denmark,鈥� to 鈥榳ell, maybe I can just about get there,鈥� to 鈥業 can鈥檛 even travel鈥�.鈥�
Meanwhile, the U.K. government unexpectedly announced that travelers coming from France would still have to self-isolate for up 10 days because of worries about the beta variant, frustrating travelers and angering the tourism industry and French government.
Emma and Ben Heywood, the British owners of adventure travel company Undiscovered Montenegro, said booking inquiries are surging after the U.K. government said in the same announcement it would stop advising against travel to countries on its 鈥渁mber list鈥� and dropped the self-isolation rule for returning travelers.
The couple said bookings last summer plunged to 10% of their usual level but now they鈥檙e at 30% and rising fast. Montenegro has a relatively low infection rate and relaxed entry requirements.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so hard keeping everybody up to date with what鈥檚 required to go where, with so many countries and so many different rules involved,鈥� said Ben Heywood.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a total minefield. Half the emails I鈥檓 fielding now are people saying, 鈥榃e definitely want to come. What do we need to do?鈥欌��
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Alex Turnbull in Paris, Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.
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