European Tourism Manifesto Demands Protection for Workers, Businesses

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Tourism Manifesto alliance is urging the European Commission to adopt measures that will support the tourism industry during and after the crisis. The alliance is advocating for government intervention to protect millions of jobs and small- and medium-size business.

Specifically, the European Tourism Manifesto alliance is calling upon the European Commission and national governments to quickly implement the following urgent measures:

• Temporary state aid for the tourism and travel sector from national governments
• Fast and easy access to short- and medium-term loans to overcome liquidity shortages, including funds made available by the E.U. through the Corona Response Investment Initiative
• Fiscal relief (both at source market and destination level), starting with SMEs and extending to economic operators of all sizes
• Protection of workers from unemployment and loss of income (short-time work schemes, upskilling and reskilling programmes) and support for self-employed tourism stakeholders
• Fast launch of the European Unemployment Reinsurance Scheme
• Deferment of fiscal and social contributions
• Immediate passing of temporary airport slots waiver
• Support action for the wider field of culture (arts and heritage)
• Better coordination between national authorities in terms of alignment of travel advice to affected regions and requirements on travellers returning from those areas.

In order to guarantee a full-speed recovery in the aftermath of the crisis, the alliance is advocating for the implementation of the additional following measures:

• Simplification of visa rules for long-haul markets
• Reducing or waiving travelers’ taxes (passenger duties, city taxes, etc.)
• Supporting destinations, by increasing their budgets for promotion, marketing and product development purposes as soon as they are ready to welcome visitors again.