Search
Generic filters
Exact matches only

Visa Facilitation

In order to remain the world’s first tourist destination, Europe must respond to the shifting patterns in global tourism and capitalize on the potential of tomorrow’s outbound travel markets.

As various research results have shown, more flexible visa procedures and rules could lead to a considerable increase in trips and thus have a significant economic impact. It is essential to re-evaluate the common EU visa policy as not only a tool to address security concerns, but also to minimise the deterrence to legitimate travellers whether for leisure or professional purposes. The process and policies for obtaining visas is a key determinant in the traveller’s destination selection. To stay competitive, it is imperative that the EU’s visa policies are improved.

Europe is losing share of global tourism arrivals and its visa regimes are a contributory factor in this decline. It is within the EU decision makers’ power to change this and to improve Europe’s tourism competitiveness.

Related Research

Visa Policy and Chinese Travel to Europe

ETC has published a report quantifying the potential impacts on European tourism of visa facilitation for Chinese travellers. The results show that a full visa liberalisation scenario would contribute to…

Read more

Improving the Visa Regimes of European Nations to Grow Tourism

Europe has been the world’s leading tourism destination since records began. The European continent welcomed over 580 million international tourists in 2014 who spent €385 billion during their stays. Just…

Read more

Related News