Planning a Trip to Europe? Think Again

The novel coronavirus pandemic started in China, then spread to other countries - Asia, at first, then Europe, and now its focal point seems to have jumped continents again, raging in the Americas as we speak. Many countries are slowly easing their lockdown measures, some of them opening up their borders to foreigners as well. Not all of them, though. Lockdowns are still in force in many countries, confining people to their homes. Depending on your country of origin, your European vacation may be tricky - or not happen at all.

Opening borders - selectively

If you have spent your time in lockdown playing all the live casinos India has to offer and you’re eager to go for the real thing in Monaco, you might have to wait longer than you had expected.

Tourism is an important contributor to many European countries’ revenues, and the livelihoods of entire populations living in coastal areas, for example, rely on tourists coming from abroad spending their money there. This is why many countries are eager to reopen their borders, declaring the first wave of the pandemic to be over to save as much of their tourist seasons as they can.

Most of them, in turn, will only open their borders for tourists coming from specific countries. Greece, for example, has announced that it will only allow tourists from 29 countries - most of them in the EU, with similar epidemiologic profiles - to spend their vacations there, and other countries often open up to even fewer.

Safety first

The health and safety of tourists are vital to any country ready to receive foreign visitors in these trying times. Preventing flare-ups or even a new wave of the epidemic can be tricky in the case of the novel coronavirus because many of the infected show no symptoms at all but can spread it without knowing. To prevent this from happening, all countries reopening to tourists will enforce strict preventive measures.

Social distancing will be the most obvious. The tanning beds and umbrellas on the beaches will be placed several meters apart, and in some places, barriers will be placed between them. Bars and restaurants will run at a greatly reduced capacity, and also with strict social distancing rules in place.

Hotels will also focus on their patrons’ safety. Here, too, the capacity will be limited, rooms will have to be disinfected or kept empty for at least 24 or 48 hours before the next inhabitant can occupy them. Human contact will likely be reduced to a minimum - think receptionists behind glass walls, no bellhops, a limited number of people taking elevators, and no bellhops carrying your bags.

When will things return to normal?

According to many specialists, things will return to normal eventually - but don’t expect it to be this year. While scientists are tirelessly working on finding the right cure for the disease and - ideally - a vaccine, we can’t expect results in the short term. With the situation still fluid in many countries, and no way to predict if and when the epidemic returns, the sensible thing would be not planning a trip to Europe this year. Maybe next...