ETOA newsletter
ETOA Newsletter, October 2021
This Newsletter includes updates on:
- European Tourism in Transition
- Climate Action: The Glasgow Declaration
- Travel Restrictions
- Brexit and the travel industry
- ETOA Insight Hub
- ETOA Featured Members
- Partners and events
European Tourism in Transition
The theme of this week’s World Tourism Day was inclusive growth. For Europe, where tourism is already highly developed, a hot topic among tourism organisations is how success will be measured other than through arrivals, overnights and spend. Pre-pandemic, it was one of the most effective job-generators we have, but the ecosystem that sustained that employment remains under acute stress. Shortage of staff is causing the hospitality sector to turn away business as it competes in an evolving job market. Inflationary pressure will follow as support schemes stop.
Tourism must be a beneficiary of inclusive policy development: it will not become the resilient sector Europe needs it to be without strategic support. Success requires being able to sell and assure supply. Demand is strong but, with significant challenges in operating conditions remaining, recovery will be uneven. On 29th October, over 600 buyers and suppliers will meet in person at ETOA’s Global European Marketplace (registrations close today). The seeds for recovery are sown: the job now is to provide the necessary support for healthy new growth.
Sustainability
Climate Action: The Glasgow Declaration
By 2030, travel and tourism will be operating within a very different regulatory and fiscal environment. Thanks to continued digitalisation, better information and the skills to use it, product development, distribution and capacity management should all improve. But, like the rest of the economy, change will be catalysed and constrained by science-based carbon emissions target and climate law. What does low-no carbon tourism look like? Will consumers have to pay more for low-carbon holidays or, like domestic appliances, will regulation mean that self-interested product choice offers lower environmental impact with lower overall cost? What information will we have about travel products before deciding to buy, and how will it enable comparison?
In the nine years to the end of 2030, EU carbon emissions are intended to be 55% below 1990 levels: it has a legislative schedule to match that ambition. Most reductions to date have come through efficiency gains and a lower carbon power generation. Much of what happens next will depend on decisions and action taken by business and consumers. ETOA is pleased to be a launch partner and signatory of the Glasgow Declaration, a consensus-building initiative which sets out the key elements of climate action planning: measure; decarbonise; regenerate; collaborate; finance. For a recording of an introductory session, click here. To become a signatory, please click here.
While reducing energy bills may be one of the most obvious short-term reasons to develop a climate action plan, climate-friendly product development will be a characteristic of successful businesses long-term. And that will require better metrics and management systems. These need to be implemented at a time when most businesses are still focused on short-term survival. Most (but still not all) agree that climate action is necessary, but to bring the results we need, we need delivery mechanisms and sufficient financial support to follow-up the declarations. These issues were explored at ETOA’s Climate webinar on 30th September.
For more on this topic, see our climate page.
Travel Restrictions
The travel restrictions database on our COVID-19 resources page is continually reviewed: the next update will be published shortly. The content covers border entry requirements travelling for tourism and in-destination certification requirements for each EU and EFTA member state and the United Kingdom.
For travel from non-EU to EU/EFTA and from outside Common Travel Area to the UK, the database shows which vaccine certification is accepted and when a traveller is deemed to be fully vaccinated. EU citizens and their family members resident in non-EU countries may also be able to obtain an EU Digital Covid Certificate (EU DCC) from their country of nationality. This is recommended where the non-EU certificate is not connected to the EU DCC gateway as, depending on the EU/EFTA state visited, possession of an EU DCC will make travel easier both at the border and particularly in-destination where certification is required.
Recent updates to the database include:
Belgium – pre-departure testing for non-EU red countries (such as UK and USA) an option to replace post arrival testing/quarantine
Ireland – ‘Designated States’ removed and thus travellers who are fully vaccinated/recovered particularly from South America are now able to travel to Ireland without testing or quarantine (where certification accepted).
Netherlands – quarantine no longer required for stays greater than 12 hours for travellers from very high risk countries (such as UK and USA)
Switzerland – in-destination certification requirements and recognition of non-EU certification from 10 October 2021.
United Kingdom – new system for international travel arriving from outside the Common Travel Area to take effect from 4th October. Only fully vaccinated travellers from countries on UK Government approved list will be permitted entry without quarantine (includes children under 18 from the approved countries).Brexit and the travel industry
For guidance please see our Brexit Post-Transition page and the member-only guiding regulation page.
From 1st October 2021, EU national ID cards will no longer be accepted for most travellers entering the UK. This includes travellers arriving directly into Northern Ireland but not arriving by land from Ireland (if travelling on to Great Britain a passport is required valid for duration of stay). EU nationals resident in the UK who have applied for the EU Settlement Scheme can continue to use an ID card (full exemption list).
From 28th September 2021, UK registered vehicles now require a UK sticker to be displayed instead of GB when driving in the EU except in Ireland. Further information here.
Multilingual pages
ETOA’s website now has landing pages to provide a short introduction to our activities for readers in French, German, Italian and Spanish.
On September 21st we held a travel trade masterclass in Spanish about what it is like to work with tour operators. EF Tours and Julia Travel were invited to share their professional experiences and advices to improve collaboration. Among our audience we had tourist offices, DMCs, cultural attractions, guides, coach companies and other players in the tourism industry. The session was recorded, please click here to see the video.
Check our latest statistics, opinion, and research pieces below and on the Insight Hub:
ALVA tracker Wave 10
The tenth wave of a sentiment tracker looking at the views of the attractions-going population in the UK.Expedia Travel Recovery trends report
The latest Expedia Trends Report cites strong global search growth, rising international searches and lengthening search windows.Amadeus digital health survey
9,000 consumers across 9 global markets were surveyed in February 2021 to better understand consumer sentiment regarding the need to provide digital health information when travelling.STR Data insight blog: Tourism after lockdown
A short article exploring the degree to which consumer preferences regarding hotel accommodation are shifting as pandemic-related restrictions are starting to ease in some countries.Data Appeal and Sojern report: European Tourism 2021
A 15-page report considering the performance of the tourism sector during summer 2021 and looking ahead to prospects for autumn. The focus of the report is on a number of destinations across Europe and suggests that while there has been a strong bounce-back pre-Covid levels are yet to be achieved, with August flight bookings to Italy being 46% down on 2019.STR Webinar COVID-19 impact on Europe hotel performance
The fourth STR webinar of 2021 to focus on how Europe’s hotel sector is performing provides a wealth of data and insight in the usual informative and entertaining style adopted by these webinars.ETOA is proud to be home to over 1,200 members who trust us to help them do better tourism business in Europe. New ETOA members listed here include buyers from across Europe as well as the USA and Australia along with a wide range of leading European suppliers. We are excited to be welcoming a number of important new buyers from Mexico, Brazil and the Philippines amongst many others. These new tour operator and wholesaler members are all keen to do more business with our supplier members whilst also supporting our events, policy and research activities.
Full details of all our new members are available by clicking on the image below.
Membership
Fast track to recovery: find new partners through ETOA Membership
Our network of active and ambitious members is growing every month and we’d love you to join them. We have now introduced a new low rate for small businesses.
From multinationals to micro enterprises, they all use ETOA membership to do more and better business with each other. Our policy and insight materials help them make better decisions and stay informed. If you are interested to find out more about how cost effective ETOA membership can be, please click on the button below or contact the team at member@etoa.org.
Member information
Why is it so important for you to use your member portal? Because in just a few clicks, you can:
• Update your company profile
• Make changes to your information
• Manage your invoices and payments
Login Here, check our portal help page or contact member@etoa.org if you are having difficulties to log in.
New events on the calendar -ETOA Member Drop-Ins
For our members, we have recently introduced online ‘Drop Ins’, a chance to:
– Meet some of the ETOA team
– Meet other ETOA members
– Discuss live issues that are impacting on your business
– Hear the latest updates on ETOA’s activities
– Get tips and tricks to get the most from your ETOA membership
– Ask questions
Read more and register here
Events
Last day to register for The Global European Marketplace 2021!
Today is the last day to register for GEM! We invite you to check the list of buyers and suppliers who have already registered for The Global European Marketplace (29th October 2021, London) and Relaunch ’22 (30th November, online).
ETOA member supplier attendance covers both access to the in-person Global European Marketplace as well as the global online workshop, Relaunch ’22. ETOA member tour operators attend free and can select to attend either or both editions! Don’t miss out, book your ticket today!
Webinar | Europe & Korea – Developing Common Interest in Tourism
To view a recording of our recent webinar on Korea outbound, please click here. Thanks to our partners for useful data and discussion.
2022 ETOA Event Packages – Save 40%!
To help you plan and manage your 2022 marketing, sales and promotion budgets, ETOA can now offer you event packages for our B2B workshops next year. Event packages have been curated to align with regions and destinations and are now available for purchase in either Euros or Sterling (members need to be logged in to view and purchase).
ETOA members can save an average of 40% on events with a package, compared to individual pricing for non-members.
Check out your options:
GBP Store
Euro Store
Save the dates for next year’s events:
Britain & Ireland Marketplace 2022
28th January, Intercontinental London, the O2
1st February, Online
VIVA Mediterranean Marketplace 2022
8th February, Online
The Nordic Marketplace 2022
22-23 February, Online
City Fair 2022
9th June, Online
The Global European Marketplace 2022
4th November, InterContinental O2
Partner Events and Offers
Travel Tech Show will return next year, live and in-person, on 29th – 30th June 2022 at ExCel London with more travel technology suppliers, networking opportunities and industry insights. In the meantime, you can access and learn from our on-demand video library with all of this year’s virtual conference sessions.