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Saturday, 26 September 2020_Throughout the summer, this was a familiar site; those in the hospitality sector, standing around waiting for customers. The EU's tourism industry, which accounts for 10% of the bloc's entire economic output or GDP, has been decimated by the coronavirus.
The crisis has been debated in the European Parliament. The hearing was told that 18 million jobs, directly linked to the industry, are at risk in the EU. The loss to the bloc's economy this year could reach one trillion euro.
President Donald Trump's handling of the pandemic has been described as appalling and there's no doubt the impact is being felt here. Just in the first half of this year tourist arrivals into the EU from overseas were down 66%.
During the European Parliament debate the lack of a coordinated EU response to travel within the bloc attracted scathing criticism. Economists are forecasting a tsunami of job losses. They say even before the current crisis efforts to generate employment were failing.
The European Commission says its €750bn COVID-19 recovery fund will help the tourism sector. However, many questions still surround when the money will be available and how precisely will it be distributed by EU member states.
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