Alper Aydın 
By the first weeks of July, the traveling world started to crawl after the burst out of the pandemic. Travel restrictions got eased compare to the last months. And especially domestic or regional movements took a start. However, waiting for people under lockdown for months led some destinations to become crowded easily after all. And in general, we observed that the health measures weren’t performed accordingly by people. Actually, we are observing quite big gaps between different countries in terms of approaching the topic. While some destinations like Australia or New Zealand are being very precautious, some other destinations like Russia or the US are not that much. It is also about the economic priorities of the countries.
Traveling Starts Back
As we have mentioned earlier, now European Union countries are allowing travel in the Schengen area. And the EU also opened their borders for 8 other countries including Canada, Japan, UK and etc. but not the US. But still, every country is having their own different regulations and bans. If you are looking for a vacation spot in Europe you can check Bloomberg’s interactive map to see the situation of each country. Just as a reminder once again, you can also check IATA’s travel regulations map if you are planning to fly somewhere this summer. Although these maps are very helpful for the initial examination, don’t forget to check the official sites of a country that you plan to visit beforehand.
Except for the border openings, also venues and attractions are started to be opened again in Europe. And the hottest news was from France. The world’s most visited museum the Louvre in Paris reopened after 4-months. For the first day on Monday, around 7,500 tickets were sold to visitors. Although there is a high demand because of months of closure, foreign tourists are the biggest source of visitor numbers. The Louvre museum was being visited around 40,000 visitors daily in its usual time. And also, museums are selling limited tickets due to social distance regulations. 4-month of closure of the Louvre cost 40 million euros in revenue to the museum.
Ease of Restrictions And Travelling May Lead To The Second Wave Of The Spread?
Coming off summer, ease of rules, and desperateness after months in lockdown made many people flow into the beaches. The picture you see is from the black sea of Ukraine. Many Russian and Ukrainian travelers visited beaches on the Black Sea without masks and avoiding the social distance rule. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases is still high in both countries. Not only in these countries, but we could see the exact same images from US beaches as well. The celebration of 4th July in the US also led many overcrowded beaches and parties without any caution to the health measures. Hopefully, those times won’t be the reason for the second wave of the spread by the beginning of autumn.
How Will Traveling Look Like After The Pandemic?
UNWTO SDG Global Startup Competition
At the beginning of the week, UNWTO announced its competition called Sustainable Development Goals Global Startup Competition. As you know the United Nations set 17 Sustainable Development Goals targeting achieve them by 2030. So the startup competition that UNWTO launched is actually focusing on startup who could offer solutions connected to those 17 goals. And, each startup should choose the main topic to contribute to these goals. Although you may not considering applying for the competition, I would suggest you click the link to take a look at it because the page that UNTWO prepared for the announcement of the completion is like a quick recap of the tourism sector. So, you would have a good overall idea of the world’s tourism picture right now!
Traveling May Never Be The Same. It Could Be Better.
We also told a lot about the redesign of the future of tourism. So that I wouldn’t want to write another long story here to take your time. But if you are further curious about the impacts of coronavirus over the redesign of the tourism, you can read the story of Venice for the post-COVID era written by the New York Times. All in all the article suggest that the pandemic was a very big opportunity for the destinations struggling with overtourism issues. Their tourism stats may never be the same again compare to the pre-pandemic times. But things may be way better for the destination itself. The article is a bit long but very covering for many different topics and perspectives. So if you would like to understand the sector and all these general mass tourism, overtourism issues, it may be worthwhile to invest your time to read it.
PIA Is Suspended To Fly To Europe For Six Months
Just as the rest of the story, as you would remember, the Aviation Minister of Pakistan officially announced that almost 1 in 3 pilots in the country didn’t have the pilotage exam themselves. So the country was shaken by the scandal of fake pilots in the air. After that security deficit, the EU banned the authorization of flight of PIA to fly to Europe for six months. We will be observing the situation altogether.
The New Era Of Having Fun In Japan
As theme parks started to reopen in Japan, one interesting rule has been enforced by the officials. ‘ Don’t scream on the rollercoasters’. The rule may seem odd. However, we all know that the droplets that could go out from the mouth of screamers may spread the virus around. So, this time unfortunate Japanese riders have to scream inside their souls! I’m leaving you the decision that if a roller coast ride without screams would make sense when you just couldn’t release yourself. And it is also doubtful for some that if they can stop themselves to scream all in those ups and downs.
Thanks for reading! Please don’t forget to leave your thoughts and comments!
See you next week with more travel news!
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