President of HOTREC, Jens Zimmer Christensen, speaks of a coordinated approach to open internal EU borders.

Indeed, HOTREC has been in direct contact with the Cabinet of European Commissioner, Thierry Breton, responsible for the Internal Market portfolio, since March, its President says. It has also been having weekly calls with the Commission’s Tourism Unit.

He notes that his organisation’s messages are incorporated in the European Commission’s guidelines for transport and tourism, namely addressing companies’ liquidity problems; adopting a coordinated approach to open the internal EU borders to ensure this is done safely; developing a website with information on the state of the borders and the available services in every country; and encouraging the patronage voucher schemes, as long as consumers are protected. In the long run, he insists, digitalisation and sustainability should be part of the solution.

To this end, the organisations EFFAT, FoodDrinkEurope, and FoodServiceEurope, together with HOTREC, submitted a number of proposals that included an EU recovery plan, which largely supports the hospitality-tourism sector as a major source of employment and one that generates growth for other industries, Mr Zimmer Christensen says. They also called on the European Commission to apply reduced VAT rates on certain food and drink products to support consumer demand and help rebuild the sector.

They believe that the SURE (Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency) mechanism will be a very useful tool to help fund compensation schemes launched in many member states.

If the exit plan is followed by all member states, the basic conditions would be in place for the hospitality sector to start delivering an individual quality experience to customers, he continues. “This will be the way forward to get out of the current crisis.”

The HOTREC President is confident that if member states adopt the coordinated approach, suggested by the European Commission to lift the internal containment measures, unilateral measures by member states, such as quarantines, could be avoided, thus bringing some confidence to travellers, and a willingness to spend holidays in another country.

He insists that all international and national health and safety regulations need to be strictly followed by all airlines, acknowledging that air carriers have developed strict protocols aimed at customer safety. Companies too must comply with national protocols and safety measures.

“If all parties in the tourism ecosystem fulfil their role in a positive way, I am convinced visitors’ confidence will be restored,” Mr Zimmer Christensen maintains. Fully aware of the precarious financial difficulties many tourism SMEs are facing, HOTREC is emphasising the need for liquidity to be made available to companies, insisting that fast track procedures are implemented to secure the survival

of the hospitality sector, and that administrative procedures are kept to a minimum.

In the long run, Mr Zimmer Christensen explains, HOTREC wants to see structural funds and a specific budget line for tourism to assist companies to secure an attractive product, a skilled workforce, a smaller carbon footprint and environmentallyfriendly offices.

“Structural funds are easier to access by companies at a national level. Therefore, we hope the EU institutions will dedicate a large portion of the recovery plan to this purpose,” he suggests.

This is an extract of a feature first carried in the July edition of Business Agenda