Europe Is Bracing for Post-Covid Tourist Summer

European tourism has had its worst time in living memory as coronavirus lockdowns, curfews and hotel and restaurant closures have threatened the industry's livelihood and frustrated travellers eager for a change of scenery.

The summer of 2020 saw a sharp downturn in European cross-border travel, leaving the continent's beaches, cities and monuments — many of them top global destinations — eerily deserted.

This year is to be different: Covid-19 is still far from defeated, but virus testing is widely available, the EU countries' vaccination rollout has gathered pace and the bloc is only days away from launching an EU travel pass, in digital and paper form, assembling key health information to speed up processing at arrival points.

Some key destinations, like Italy, are already reporting brisk bookings, while Spain hopes to reach up to 70% of pre-pandemic tourism levels.

Tourists from countries outside the bloc — which since Brexit include the United Kingdom — still face plenty of obstacles at EU borders, and mandatory social distancing and mask-wearing will dampen everyone's experience.

But governments say they must avoid a dreaded fourth coronavirus wave, even as they throw tourism a lifeline.

"We have to reconcile freedom of mobility with the need for security," French Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said, echoing the sentiment across the bloc.

Here is a summary of rules in some of Europe's key tourism spots.

France

France, the world's top tourist destination, on Friday announced a colour-coded map laying out entry protocols for the summer travel season, with restrictions lifted for EU residents and "green" countries Australia, South Korea, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand...

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