ECTAA: Safe Travel is Possible this Summer

Photo source: UNWTO

The European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Association (ECTAA) on Tuesday called for a common European roadmap for return to travel in the post-Covid-19 era.

“The industry stands ready to set and implement a plan for return to travel this summer,” the association said in an announcement.

ECTAA is joining the calls of many tourism stakeholders to European and national decision-makers to plan the way for a safe return of travel in time for the summer.

“Travellers and industry need a perspective when and under which conditions travel can resume,” ECTAA President Pawel Niewiadomski said.

According to the association, such a plan should build around a common approach of risk-based travel restrictions, based on testing and health certificates. Moreover, communication to the public is key to restore travellers’ confidence.

Photo source: IATA

Underlining that all the prerequisites exist to be able to travel safely this summer, ECTAA notes that:

– Vaccinations programmes are being rolled out, ensuring that the most vulnerable people are protected and alleviating the strain on our health systems.
– Tests are becoming increasingly performant and in sufficient capacity to be deployed in travel on a large scale.
– Rigorous health and safety protocols have been implemented by tourism enterprises to welcome their guests in a safe way.

“All we need to do is put the dots together and determine a common European roadmap for return to travel,” Niewiadomski said.

The association also referred to the safety that organized packaged tours offers travelers.

“The German agency responsible for disease control and prevention, the Robert Koch Institute, has worked out from which countries most foreign infections originated last summer. The result: the classic organised holiday trip only made a small contribution to the incidence of infections in Germany,” ECTAA said.