The world faces the worst global recession in nearly a century, a key economic body has warned as more European countries announced plans to ease coronavirus restrictions and welcome visitors again.
Beginning on June 16, Austria will open up to all European neighbours with the exception of Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Britain, meaning that visitors from 31 countries will no longer be required to undergo a two-week quarantine upon arrival.
Greece, another European holiday hot spot, will allow tourists to fly to Athens or the main northern city of Thessaloniki beginning on June 15.
But that's hoping people have money to spend.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Wednesday that global economic output could fall by as much as 7.6 per cent this year if a second wave of infections emerges, with the pandemic's economic impact expected to be even harsher in Europe because of the continent's strict and relatively lengthy coronavirus lockdowns.
In the eurozone, which includes the 19 European Union countries that use the euro currency, GDP is expected to plunge 11.5 per cent this year in case of a second wave and by more than 9 per cent even if another round of infections is avoided.
"Now we're in the midst of... perhaps the most global health, economic and social crisis and it's simply the most severe any of us have ever witnessed," OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said during the presentation of the report in Paris.
He named tourism and air travel among the "critical" sectors hard hit by the pandemic and urged countries to co-operate in developing and fairly distributing a vaccine for the virus.
The virus has infected 7.2 million people worldwide and killed nearly 412,000, about 180,000 of them in Europe, according to official figures tallied by Johns Hopkins University.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said the border with Italy to the south would be open without conditions on June 16 but that a travel warning for Austrian citizens was still in place for Italy's northern region of Lombardy.
That region, the epicentre of Italy's epidemic, has still been showing triple-digit growth in daily infections while much of the rest of the country counts a handful or fewer.
While Italy opened its own borders on June 3, Austria's reluctance to open their shared border has been a sore spot between the two.
Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said restrictions would remain in place for Spain because its own borders remain closed until July 1 for most tourists and for Portugal due to an increase in infections in recent days.
"Please pack your bags, but don't forget the situation at home," Anschober said, emphasising that the virus remains in circulation.
"Please consider every trip, whether with the family and on business, and when possible don't travel."
Contract workers from France's food, catering and events industry held a protest on Wednesday between the Louvre Museum and Champs-Elysees, saying the virus pandemic is killing their jobs.
The symbolic flash mob demonstration included about 30 people dressed in black, simulating strangulation with their ties and putting signs reading "sentenced to death" into a coffin.
Spain's Balearic Islands will allow thousands of German tourists to fly in for a two-week trial that tests out how to balance the needs of Spain's vital tourism industry with new regulations to curb the country's coronavirus outbreak.
The trial that begins on June 15 comes before the archipelago and the rest of the country re-open to international tourism on July 1.
Hungary said that, beginning on Friday, it would fully reopen its borders with Croatia, whose beaches on the Adriatic Coast are a favoured destination.
Greece will allow international flights to land at regional airports beginning on July 1.
Visitors arriving from airports not on the European air safety agency list of at-risk regions will be subjected to random spot coronavirus tests but will not face the mandatory testing and quarantine now in place for all international travellers.
Britain said on Wednesday it was planning to re-open zoos, safari parks and drive-in theatres on Monday as it eases lockdown measures.
But that is mostly for local tourists only, since this week the government slapped a 14-day quarantine requirement on all arrivals, a move that health experts say comes too late and tourism officials fear will be devastating to their industry.
Australian Associated Press
