Travel between countries in Europe has declined further in early August from an already low level in July. New travel restrictions and concerns about the spread of the virus have caused Europeans to stay at home.
There was a little optimism among travel companies and companies in the tourism sector in July that travel could actually start at the end of the summer, but that has not happened.
According to the analysis company ForwardKeys, international air travel in Europe during July was about a quarter of normal levels. It is from this, already very low level, that travel has decreased further in early August.
The downward trend began in late July, when the UK introduced quarantine requirements for anyone travelling from Spain. More countries have since been added to the list, including France. The British government has urged Britons not to travel abroad at all unless they want to quarantine themselves upon their return.
The other large tourist group, Germans, have also reduced their travel following restrictions on foreign travel to Spain and other tourist countries.
The hardest hit, both economically and in terms of the spread of the virus, is Spain. Almost no foreign tourists go there anymore. The spread of the virus is the highest per hundred thousand inhabitants in the EU, and in cities like Madrid and Zaragoza, the death toll has started to rise sharply from low levels.
The outlook for travel is also bleak. Flight bookings for the last quarter of the year are 70 percent lower than at the same time last year, according to ForwardKeys. For example, airline Ryanair has decided to reduce the number of flights this autumn, Reuters reports.
Source: sverigesradio.se
