REUTERS
The European Union and Ukraine are expecting non-essential travel for tourists will resume after the improvement of the COVID-19 epidemiological situation.
This is stated in a joint statement following the seventh meeting of the Ukraine-EU Association Council, posted on the website of the European Council.
"The Association Council looked forward to the resumption of non-essential travel for our citizens, once the epidemiological conditions allow," the statement said.
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Travel industry hit hard by coronavirus
- Tourism has become one of the sectors of the economy most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, because international travel has practically stopped due to quarantine restrictions and closed borders.
- According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the tourism industry's losses over the reduction in the number of trips around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic in the first ten months of 2020 amounted to US$935 billion. Thus, world tourism returned to the 1990 level.
- Airlines' losses were also high. The European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation released three scenarios predicting the resumption of air traffic, according to which tourists will be able to fly to Europe as before no earlier than 2024.
- At the same time, most countries, like the EU, are in no hurry to open borders for foreign tourists, including from Ukraine.
- Introducing vaccination passports that will allow tourists to travel again is now on the agenda. Some countries, like Israel, are already actively introducing them.
- On January 28, the EU updated the list of states whose citizens are allowed to enter EU countries.