Saint Mark's Square without tourists in Venice, the Eiffel Tower closed in Paris, the beaches of Barcelona without anyone ... The coronavirus pandemic has brutally emptied all tourist destinations in Europe. Ironically, while the most popular sites faced a worrying overcrowding, here they are in need of visitors and worried about their finances. By closing the borders, the states have deprived themselves of a good part of their resources, in addition to risking a social breakdown.
Read also: Europe wants to speed up the return of tourists
Overall, in Europe, tourism represents almost 10% of GDP and 12% of employment. In France alone, the world's leading tourist destination, 2 million people work in the sector, which alone generates 7.3% of GDP. Sometimes it's much more: according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Greece gets 20.8% of its GDP from tourism, Portugal 16.5% and Spain 14.3%. The Canaries and the Balearics owe their financial health to foreign, German visitors
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