Restarting Tourism - The Tourist Guides View .... .. ...

Travel and tourism in Europe have been badly affected by the coronavirus crisis. National governments are taking measures to re-establish transportation links, slowly start to lift travel restrictions and resume tourism activities. While these measures are implemented, it is still important to look at the impact the crisis has had on incomes and the extent of lost trade activities.

The European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (FEG) gathered information from its membership of 28 countries, to measure the level of lost trade activities and the financial relief tourist guides have received.

Tourist guides have reported a 94.6% drop in trade activities for May
 

May 2020 graph
 

and 84.2% for June. The difference in the percentage is due to some countries relaxing lock-down restrictions earlier than others or having different regulations regarding guided tours.
 

June 2020 graph
 

Approximately 60% of surveyed guides reported that they were expecting some form of financial support from their national governments.

Breaking these figures down to monthly support, 82% of guides received some compensation for lost work for March. This figure drops to 71% for April and only 37% of guides reported financial support for May.

The numbers drop further in June with only 15% of guides reporting that they were expecting financial support. This is in contradiction to the almost total cancellation of guiding activities for the month and resulting loss of income.

FEG calls for the continuation of financial aid for tourist guides considering the substantial work losses and lack of bookings for the next few months.

Efforts to re-start tourism and national and international campaigns supporting travel are positive moves. However, the uncertainty of workable guidelines and lack of co-operation between different tourism stakeholders are critical factors that need to be addressed.