At this time of year, European thoughts turn to the heartwarming idea of a long summer break abroad enjoying sun and sea. But with the COVID-19 pandemic still circulating and infections rising in several parts of the world, there's a question mark over whether summer holidays will go ahead as normal this year. 

Some European countries started 2021 with lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions and other measures to combat spikes in deaths and infections attributed to new variants of the virus. More than half-a-dozen countries are currently in some form of lockdown with movement severely restricted, including the UK, Portugal and Cyprus, among others. 

In the UK, where the death toll has passed 100,000, the government is set to introduce new measures requiring people coming from high-risk countries to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense.

But these proposed measures have come under attack by many in the travel industry, including the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which says they "could force the complete collapse of travel and tourism."

"From airlines to travel agents, travel management companies to holiday companies and beyond, the effect on UK travel businesses would be devastating, further delaying the economic recovery," added Gloria Guevara, WTTC president and CEO.

The effects of current travel bans and quarantines are already being felt by the sector. Paul Charles, the chief executive of travel consultancy the PC Agency, told CGTN Europe that "this is normally the busiest time for tour operators and airlines selling in the travel sector.

"Sadly, of course, this year, due to that lack of confidence, people are not booking and so bookings are falling off a cliff, people are asking to change bookings they already had, and it doesn't look good at the moment," he explained.

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Not all doom and gloom

However, despite the current gloom with holiday booking figures low, many in the travel and tourism sector believe there is some room for optimism as pent-up demand for travel along with successful vaccination drives, could see a boost in bookings in the coming months.

"I'm actually optimistic that from May 1 onwards, there will be more certainty," said Charles. "There will be a good holiday season for travelers, certainly from the UK and around most of Europe over the summer months."

As many people had canceled summer holiday bookings last year during the height of the pandemic, experts say there could be more of a demand to book holidays this year. 

According to British travel association ABTA, 91 percent of UK-booked package holidays were canceled in the summer of 2020. Many in the industry say travelers may be more willing to take their holiday abroad this year, even if it means increased safety measures.

But what are some of the measures that are to be expected by keen holidaymakers this year? According to those in the industry, social distancing, mask-wearing, increased testing and quarantines will be common over the holiday season. 

"We're going to have to live with COVID-19 for some time yet," said Charles. "It's quite likely we're going to have to live with a certain number of measures when traveling – wearing face masks more often, and social distancing within indoor environments. There's no on/off button for this virus."

In order to be able to open up safely for guests and consumers, all areas of the travel and tourism sector, including hotels, restaurants and airlines, will need to implement changes to their business models to cater to these safety measures and help consumers feel safe. And a lot of these changes will inevitably incur additional costs both to consumers and business owners.

For airlines this may include limiting the number of passengers to ensure social distancing, or introducing testing for passengers – while for restaurants it would mean restructuring to keep tables far apart, or even moving their infrastructure outside instead of being in enclosed spaces.

"The virus is leading to a shake-up in how hospitality and travel operates overall. We're going to see a lot of changes compared to how we used to travel, how we used to enjoy our holidays pre-COVID-19," Charles said.

"I think hotels are going to have to be more innovative in their business models and create business models which are COVID-19-proof," he added.

The COVID-19-free resort 

One hotel which changed its business model in light of COVID-19 restrictions is the Forte Village resort on the Italian island of Sardinia.

Last year, Forte Village invested more than a million dollars in an onsite COVID-19 testing center as part of its newly-introduced protocol to test guests on their arrival at the resort.

"During the lockdown, we were brainstorming with the team and thought that this year … (we needed) new, exciting things to offer to the client, the focus was more on how to make Forte Village the safest place in the world," said Lorenzo Giannuzzi, CEO of Forte Village.

"We decided to enlarge and to invest in our medical team by bringing new doctors. And we started to research what was the most safe and reliable test, and with a lot of research, we finally found it. We worked with three universities to put together this protocol that is vouched by very eminent scientists," he explained.

The protocol introduced at the resort was to carry out a rapid antibody test on all guests at check-in before they enter the resort. The test involved a small finger-prick, which was then taken to be analyzed in the hotel's testing center and results were produced in around seven minutes, meaning guests would not have to wait for a long time.

Once a negative result was produced and everything was fine, the guests would then be allowed to enter the resort without having to worry about wearing a mask or social distancing for the duration of their stay as a COVID-19-free environment was promised by only allowing those with negative test results on the site.

"I was quite impressed with the solution they brought because we knew it's all going to be safe, we didn't have to wear masks once we've passed the test," Razvan Rosan, a guest at the resort, told CGTN Europe.

As one of the first resorts in Europe to introduce testing measures, Forte Village said a positive to testing guests was that once inside, group sporting activities or the water park or even eating in the restaurant could be enjoyed by guests without social distancing restrictions.

"You don't need to worry about anyone else or kids being in contact with each other or, you know, sharing tables and things. So we felt a lot freer than I thought we could be," resort guest Rachel Martin told CGTN Europe.

For 2021 holidays, Forte Village has upgraded its protocol by carrying out antigen tests on all staff members and guests, which provide results within 15 minutes. 

If the antigen test is positive, a further RT-PCR molecular test (in which samples are gathered from a swab of the throat and nose) is carried out to ensure there is no presence of the virus. A negative result will allow the guest to start their holiday with no restrictions. 

The new procedures were also good news for holiday activities organizers Legend Holidays & Events, who have been partnered with Forte Village for 10 years. 

"Sadly, due to COVID-19, our May and July holidays were unable to go ahead in 2020," Legend Holidays & Events co-founder and former English rugby union star Austin Healey told CGTN Europe. "However, thanks to Forte's scientific Medical Committee, they were the only resort in the world to offer COVID-19 testing upon arrival to all guests.

"This reassured our families and sporting legends so that they could have a normal family holiday, without masks, enabling them to enjoy a wide range of the resort's facilities, along with our netball and rugby academies," he added.

For experts in the travel industry, testing is the way forward to allow holidays to resume while restoring the confidence of consumers to get back to traveling.

But while this may be achievable for some businesses, it may not be for others, as a complete change in infrastructure incurs extra costs, from purchasing testing equipment, to increased staff and training.

"I think the challenge is that costs are going to have to rise – not just for airline operational costs or hotel costs, but also for us as consumers: we can expect to be paying more to have the holiday that we would like to have," the PC Agency's Paul Charles explained.

For keen holidaymakers, however, this will not stand in their way. "Judging by the research we're doing, we're seeing that consumers are prepared to pay for tests and to undertake more tests in order to keep themselves safe," Charles said.

"I think we're going to be living in the land of testing for some time yet," he added.

Video editor: Natalia Luz