The summer of 2021 brought some cheer back to the tourism sector. Mass vaccination was essential to driving the travelling “feeling”, with many European tourists only want to go back travelling after having been vaccinated against Covid-19. However, unequal vaccination rates led to an unbalanced recovery across Europe as a whole.

Summer is synonymous with family holidays, festivals, beaches of white sands, warm nights, swimming in the sea, surf and sun.

In the second year of the pandemic, there came hope of the beginnings of a recovery and the lifting of some of the restrictions imposed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, even if only cautiously.

The demand for travel in Europe remained weak in early 2021 in keeping with how international tourist arrivals dropped an annualised 83% in the first quarter of this year [1]. The gradual reduction in the restrictions, the rise in vaccination rates across Europe and the reopening of the European Union (EU) to fully vaccinated visitors from third party countries providing some boost prior to the peak months of summer.

Mass vaccination was essential to drive the travel “feeling”, with 54% of the Europeans surveyed wishing to make a trip after having been vaccinated against Covid-19 [2]. This “feeling” aligns with recent research findings from the EU that reported how 75% of those interviewed believe that Covid-19 vaccines are the only means of ending with the pandemic and that 49% agree that vaccine administration is highly important to enabling any return to travelling [3]. However, unequal vaccination rates have led to an imbalanced recovery across Europe. This situation differs from summer 2020 when few dared to travel beyond their own borders. Today with the digital vaccination certificate mandatory – 14 days after the final vaccination dose, recovery from Covid or a negative test taken in the last 72 hours – tourists are again travelling to their favourite European destinations and bringing some life back to the tourism sector.

Tourists from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore, among others, became able to travel to various European countries. For various months, North American citizens have been able to fly to Europe even if many countries imposed rigid rules on entrance in September. In the meanwhile, the United States authorities announced that fully vaccinated visitors from the EU and the United Kingdom will be able to return to the country as from November.

Throughout Europe, many countries have suspended confinement and cut the entrance and travel requirements. However, while in some countries the measures are being loosened, in others, the entrance rules are once again getting tightened due to the advance of the Delta variant and the consequent rise in the number of cases.

Defined by swift and deep reaching (and perhaps permanent) changes in consumption habits, accompanied by new regulations and local measures, the situation in each country change with the arrival of summer, which also meant that tourists, tourism operators, hotels and restaurants had to constantly remain highly flexible.

From the beautiful coastlines of Caldera in Greece, Amalfi in Italy, Ibiza and Majorca in Spain, or cultural and classical destinations such as the Louvre Museum in France or the Brandenburg Gate in Germany, Europe is a highly diversified destiny that is on every visit list.

In Greece, the country opened its borders in mid-April to vaccinated persons with the objective of launching its tourism season prior to competitors such as Spain or France. Summer 2020 saw a fall of 78% from a record number of 34 million tourist arrivals in 2019 – a disaster for an economy already in difficulties in a country where tourism accounts for 20% of GDP.

Millions of workers depend on their summer earnings in order to survive the winter.

Mykonos is one of the most famous and cosmopolitan of Greek islands, located in the heart of the Cyclades, and known as the “island of winds” due to the strong winds that blow there throughout the year. A paradise whether for lovers of nature or the nightlife. Tourists from all over the world go to Mykonos for its incredible atmosphere, its legendary nightlife but also for its climate, beaches, aquatic activities as well as the famous Mediterranean cuisine, shellfish and mezze gastronomic culture.

The country received applause for its tourism recovery after having welcomed over six million tourists during the summer. According to the Greek Minister of Tourism, Haris Theocaris, Greece has been the destination of choice even for the French, with 450,000 arrivals, who generally spend their holidays in their own country.

Spain was one of the European countries most serious impacted and since the outset of the pandemic, the country has registered a large number of both cases and fatalities.

After entering into strict lockdown in spring 2020, Spain reopened for summer of the same year. Nevertheless, in November of last year, the country went into a state of emergency with the country then ending up under confinement through to 9 May 2021.

Spain welcomed around five million international passengers in August 2021, registering a year-on-year increase of 172%. One of the favourite destinations for tourists is Ibiza, an island in the archipelago and autonomous community of the Balearic Islands, located to the east of Spain and with the largest city bearing the same name as the island. According to the INE – the Spanish Institute of Statistics, the number of French arrivals represented 19.9% of the total of arrivals, followed by the Germans (64.5%), with 707,331 visits through to July and British arrivals that registered a 46.5% increase on the same period of the preceding year.