European Commission To Simplify Visa Procedures To Attract More Tourists

Seeking to further develop Europe’s tourism potential, the European Commission is preparing a review of the Visa Code before the end of this year, it was announced on World Tourism Day, Friday, 27 September.

The commission’s aim is to simplify and improve the visa procedures, in particular for tourists coming from emerging economies such as China and Russia, while ensuring an adequate level of security in the EU.

In the last four years, the number of Russian and Chinese visitors to the EU has doubled and flows from India are also increasing rapidly. Yet many potential travellers from countries outside of the EU face visa hurdles when they decide to vacation in Europe.

The new initiative aims to eliminate the cumbersome visa processing and attract even more foreign tourists to Europe’s mountains, cities and coastlines.

“We should continue to find ways to make Europe’s tourism sector flourish,” European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, said.

“Our visa simplification initiative, which aims to attract more tourist from the emerging economies, is a good example of how we can work together to remove policy and administrative barriers to boost economic growth,” Mr. Tajani added.