Category: Europe

Roger Federer, the legendary tennis player of Switzerland, is now the official brand ambassador of Switzerland Tourism. The long-term agreement between the Swiss National Tourism Board and Roger Federer aims to attract tourists. This cooperation will be of great benefit in this day and age of the greatest crisis facing the tourism industry since World War II. Roger Federer says he has always represented Switzerland on the field. The campaign will begin in April as part of the new collaboration. Communication programs will be conducted first in European cities and then in the United States and the Asia-Pacific region, especially ... Read more

“The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and its Members say the proposal from the European Commission, which would see all EU member states adopt the Digital Green Certificate, is a major step towards the recovery of Travel & Tourism in the region” said Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC “The introduction of the new certificate to travel could see member states welcoming travellers with proof of vaccination, a negative test or a positive antibody test, in time for the busy summer period. This would provide a significant and much needed boost to economies and save millions of jobs and ... Read more

The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau recently launched the Paris Ensemble campaign to promote the products and services of professionals in the Paris tourism industry and encourage people to consume locally. Hoteliers, shopkeepers, restaurateurs, cultural venues, and other activities have once again adapted their approach so visitors can enjoy the capital while complying with health rules. Paris looks forward to welcoming them over the festive season. The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB) will be promoting actors in the Paris tourism industry and their festive products and services, enabling Parisians and visitors to enjoy an array of food, fun, and ... Read more

The Three Wise Men flew over Seville in a hot air balloon on Tuesday morning, after traditional street parades on the eve of the Epiphany were canceled throughout Spain to avoid drawing big crowds amid the coronavirus pandemic. Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar are widely celebrated in Spain on Epiphany (Jan. 6), when they are said to have visited the infant Christ with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. On that day children get presents their parents tell them have been brought by the Three Wise Men, and not Santa Claus – even if the latter has also become increasingly popular in Spain. ... Read more

An ice cave formed naturally on a high-altitude glacier in the Swiss Alps became accessible this week, to the delight of visitors who came to marvel at the huge blue vault of the “ice cathedral”. Changing size and shape from year to year, the cave has a rounded ceiling made of thick ice about 5 meters high and is 20 meters long. The site is accessible by foot in 15 minutes from the chairlift at Glacier 3000 above the resort of Les Diablerets, but at your own risk, organizers warned. In the last years … we had kind of an ... Read more

Through some innovative moves, a Belgian restaurant has got the orders ticking during lockdown by serving seafood to its customers in camper vans. COVID-19 restrictions have temporarily banned indoor dining. But restaurants were allowed to serve food outside and also do takeaways. At the “Matthias and Sea” restaurant, people can just rent a vehicle or bring their own, park it outside and wait for masked restaurant staff to bring their favorite food over from the kitchens. As per the restaurant Owner Mattia Collu he got the idea while delivering orders to people’s houses in and around his base in the ... Read more

More than a million French cyclists have used a 50 euro ($60) subsidy to get their old bikes repaired as part of measures to fight the coronavirus and now the government wants more people to start riding them. Following France’s first lockdown in the spring, the government offered subsidies to get old bikes fixed. That programme will now be extended until the end of March following the relaxation of a second lockdown last weekend. “After this second lockdown, the government wants to encourage French people to use bicycles to move around,” Environment Minister Barbara Pompili said during a visit to ... Read more

The owner of a Frankfurt restaurant is staging a protest against the coronavirus lockdown in Germany by filling his tables with a hundred stuffed toy pandas, in a play on the word “pandemic”. German officials are expected on Wednesday to agree to extend until Dec. 20 a “lockdown light” they imposed on Nov. 2 which means bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues must stay closed, while shops and schools can remain open. The pandas are seated at the restaurant’s tables and propped up at the bar, some with bottles of Corona beer. “We wanted to put some life back into our ... Read more

Spain Tourism presents an opportunity to meet its premier suppliers all across the country on 2nd and 03rd December through Virtual Spanish Travel Show. Registration can be done through www.virtualspanishtravelshow.com . The timings of the show would be from 1400-1700hrs (IST) on both days. The show is aimed at updating the present situation of tourism in Spain to the partners and clients across the world and also to throw some light on what is being planned for the coming day. It also aims to send some positive signals to the world about the recovery of the tourism industry in Spain. ... Read more

Greece’s Tourism Minister Haris Theocharis has said the country is trying to do everything possible to ensure that the country remains an attractive tourist destination with a low rate of coronavirus infections. Talking to BBC Radio he said that the country’s measures to control the pandemic has proved to be successful. “We’re taking specific targeted measures where we see specific concentrations of cases,” Theocharis told Radio 4’s “Today” program. He went on to note that coronavirus cases in Greece remain far below the European Union average in proportional terms and the UK threshold of 20 cases per 100,000 residents per week, ... Read more

Britain’s economy will lose about £22 billion ($29 billion) this year on the coronavirus-induced collapse of global travel, which could imperil three million jobs, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) predicted in a report on Wednesday. “Travellers and tourists are staying away from the UK in droves because of continuing uncertainty around travel restrictions designed to curb the spread of COVID-19,” the WTTC stated. It continued: “The severe impact on UK travel and tourism is laid bare by WTTC as the economic fallout from coronavirus continues to burn its way through the sector. Nearly three million jobs in the ... Read more

A new in-depth data dashboard highlighting the recovery of travel demand across flights and hotels, as well as revealing the shifting intentions of travellers through online travel searches, has been launched by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The one-stop data shop or Interactive COVID-19 Travel Demand Recovery Dashboard was developed by WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, with support from McKinsey & Company. This unique tool provides users with easy access to qualitative and quantitative travel data at the global and regional level as well as for 33 major countries around the world, by ... Read more

The cost of the restrictions on travel introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is there for all to see. Between January and May, the sudden and rapid fall in tourist arrivals cost an estimated $320 billion. That’s three times greater than the impact of the Great Recession of 2007-2009 on our sector – and this is just for the first five months of the year,UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili has said. The re-opening of borders to tourism is a welcome relief to millions who depend on our sector. But this alone is not enough, especially in view of recent announcements and ... Read more

Air passenger numbers in Europe are expected to drop by 60% in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis, the global aviation industry has said. Although air traffic in Europe has increased in recent months since its low point in April, flights remain “more than 50% below the same period in 2019″—a drop of around 705 million passenger journeys, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said. “The near-term outlook for recovery in Europe remains highly uncertain with respect to the second wave of the pandemic and the broader global economic impact it could have,” IATA said in a statement. IATA ... Read more

COVID 19 has changed the world order and the Travel and Tourism industry has been the worst hit. In order to usher in the new normal and build trust in travellers to travel again World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has come out with a global standard. WTTC has curated a ” SAFE TRAVELS STAMP ” as the new symbol of Trust for Travel and Tourism industry. Association of Tourism Trade Organizations, India (ATTOI) has partnered with WTTC for India, to promote and propagate this trust with tourism businesses in India. The World Travel & Tourism Council represents the Travel ... Read more