The summer is here and usually that would bring huge numbers of tourists but that?s seemingly a little more difficult as the ongoing pandemic has caused difficulties for many. Perhaps the most visibly hit country has been Spain, and recent travel changes between the UK and Spain may have longer lasting impacts than many had considered.
In early July many of the travel restrictions that had been in place across Europe were lifted and provided many with a chance to travel again and have the summer holiday they’d been hoping for after a few months of being told that any travel this year was looking incredible unlikely – because of this huge numbers started to travel to Spain’s tourist hotspots once more and fueling the hope that an economic recovery by way of tourism would be on the way. There has been a recent increased in positive cases confirmed in Spain, however, leading for a recent change in UK travel as a mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival back from Spain had been issued leading many to quickly cancel their bookings, we’ve also seen popular travel company TUI also cancel all flights until the end of next week and leading to many popular destinations becoming ghost towns with further fears that this could lead to a much slower recovery.
Much of these changes have come over recent fears that parts of Europe may be experiencing a second wave of the coronavirus, this may also cause a change in how any potential recovery happens as the first attempt had been a very rushed attempt at getting as much as possible back to a ‘new normal’, an adjusted approach will be needed to ensure that there is safety for both visitors and residents too. The current quarantine measures for UK visitors will likely remain until cases drop below a much safer number, which could in turn mean that travel across Europe sees a dramatic decrease throughout the end of the year and may also see any potential travel to the UK for European visitors restricted heavily too.
Although travel may be off the cards, at least some entertainment has come back to keep us busy during the summer – European football has come to an end as the shortened seasons have finished but many other events are getting underway as the F1 returns to the UK for a weekend of racing before heading to Spain, fans of US sporting events can get excited too as most major US sports will be coming back to the screen this weekend. Although there had been changes to online gambling regulation such as the recent ban for credit card betting and adjustments to initiatives such as gamstop, a growing number of betting sites not on gamstop have become available to players and will be available for use – a big heatwave is expected to hit Europe in the coming week too so it may be a perfect time to sit inside away from the sun and enjoy some other entertainment.
