Over 20 EU travel and tourism associations have issued an open letter to European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen urging her to end lockdown restrictions for the industry to resume the livelihoods of the roughly 27 million people working in the sector.
Photo by: Ahmed Muntasir/Pexels
The letter calls for the end of the "extreme" quarantine restrictions and for them to be replaced with a proposed "EU Testing Protocol for travel" legislation that will help mitigate variables they say are crippling the travel industry.
The group, who represent over 5,000 companies and the people who work for them, have pointed to inconsistencies with how the various EU member states are handling travel restrictions, calling for across-the-board regulation in getting the sector back up and running.
The letter has been signed by representatives from across the travel and tourism sector, including workers, airlines, airports aeronautics manufacturers, railways, ground handlers, caterers and their supply traders and many more in a bid to reignite the industry before the damage caused by the pandemic and travel restrictions become irreparable.
It comes as the latest report from ACI EUROPE, an airport body who are also signatories to the letter, which shows a decline for the industry for the first two months of September - which now sits at a net loss of -73% - down from a sluggish "peak recovery" period of -65% for August.
In the open letter to Mrs Von der Leyen, the signatories describe the situation as "chaotic" and "in need of her personal involvement."
They said: "We are urging you to make this issue a top priority and calling on you to address this issue directly with Heads of State and the Government.
"We are therefore asking you to ensure that the Commission takes the lead in the development of an EU Testing Protocol for travel and its implementation to avoid quarantines and re-open borders."
They added: "Beyond the huge economic and human costs involved, the freedom of movement of people and the principle of non-discrimination - the core pillars and essential purpose of the European project - are at risk."
The signatories are uniting behind a call to action by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) which claims that extreme regulation is ineffective in suppressing the spread of airborne diseases where community transmission is already present, such as in Europe.
They end the letter by saying they "hope the EU will not let [them] down."
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