The tourism ecosystem has been one of the most affected by the heavy restrictions on movement and travel imposed in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak. EU presented a common framework providing criteria to safely and gradually restore tourism activities. Developing health protocols have been delivered for hotels and other forms of accommodation, to protect the health of both guests and employees. After months of lockdown, travel and tourism could soon restart.
As EU countries gradually lift confinement measures, Europeans may be able to travel this summer, provided the health situation and national restrictions allow. While people will need to take precautions and follow health and safety instructions from national authorities, the European Commission has come up with guidelines and recommendations to help EU countries coordinate the safe lifting of travel restrictions.
These criteria include epidemiological evidence; sufficient health system capacity being in place for local people and tourists; robust surveillance and monitoring and testing capacity and contact tracing. These guidelines allow people to safely stay at hotels, camping sites, Bed&Breakfasts or other holiday accommodation establishments. Tourists can safe eat and drink at restaurants, bars and cafés and go to beaches and other leisure outdoor areas.
The guidelines present general principles for the safe and gradual restoration of passenger transport by air, rail, road and waterways. The guidelines put forth a series of recommendations, such as the need to limit contact between passengers and transport workers, and passengers themselves, reducing, where feasible, the density of passengers.
Travel, transport, accommodation, food, recreation or culture, contribute to almost 10% of EU GDP and provide a key source of employment and income in numerous European regions. 267 million Europeans (62% of the population) make at least one private leisure trip per year and 78% of Europeans spend their holidays in their home country or another EU country.
Europe is home to a vibrant tourism ecosystem. The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) foresees a 60% to 80% reduction in international arrivals, amounting to losses of between €840 and €1.100 billion in export revenues worldwide. In Europe, the summer is a crucial season for tourism:during an average summer season (June-August) residents of the EU make 385 million tourism trips and spend €190 billion.
Guests in hotels and other types of accommodation should respect social distancing when in common areas, as well as infection prevention and control measures such as coughing or sneezing into a paper tissue or bent elbow, hand hygiene and face masks.
Tourism facilities should provide guests with clear information and guidance prior to arrival and should have an action plan in place in case of infection in the establishment. They should also ensure regular cleaning and disinfection of frequently touched surfaces and good ventilation systems. Hotel staff should be trained in basic infection prevention and control.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, ECDC’s Epidemic Intelligence team has been collecting the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, based on reports from health authorities worldwide. This comprehensive and systematic process is carried out on a daily basis. To insure the accuracy and reliability of the data, this process is being constantly refined. This helps to monitor and interpret the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic not only in the European Union, the European Economic Area (EEA), but also worldwide.
Every day between 6.00 and 10.00 CET, a team of epidemiologists screens up to 500 relevant sources to collect the latest figures. The data screening is followed by ECDC’s standard epidemic intelligence process for which every single data entry is validated and documented in an ECDC database. An extract of this database, complete with up-to-date figures and data visualisations, is then shared on the ECDC website, ensuring a maximum level of transparency.
Monitoring and assessing threats to public health in Europe from infectious diseases are core tasks for ECDC, as is providing technical support to the EU-level response to such threats. The Centre’s mission is to identify, assess and communicate current and emerging threats to human health from communicable diseases.
The objective of epidemic intelligence is to rapidly detect and assess public health events of any origin to ensure the EU’s health security. Epidemic intelligence can be described as the systematic collection and collation of information from a variety of sources, which is then validated and analysed. The aim is to ensure a timely response, based on an adequate risk assessment with recommendations on appropriate public health measures.
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