POST COVID EVOLUTIONS OF TOURISM IN MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. SIMILARITIES AND DISPARITIES

Abstract

The free movement of people, the increase in the standard of living in the states of the European Union and beyond, the increase in free time, the increase in the appetite of individuals for travel, as well as the development of the specific infrastructure, have led in recent decades to a significant increase in tourist traffic and, implicitly, the development tourism industry, and adjacent industries, with significant effects at regional and local level. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 had a significant negative impact on tourist traffic and implicitly on the tourism industry both globally, regionally and locally. Although the resumption of tourist traffic took place gradually, at the level of the European Union states, significant differences were highlighted. Starting from this assessment, the paper performs a radiography of the evolution of tourist traffic in the European Union, between January 2018 and September 2022, highlighting the similarities and differences between the member states, from this point of view.

Keywords

• tourist traffic
• covid-19
• tourist arrivals
• tourist reception structure