A survey of more than 2,500 travellers from the UK, US, Canada and Australia found that if travellers regularly faced border waits of three to four hours when entering the Schengen Area of Europe, around one-third would be much less likely to travel there, or would choose not to visit at all.
The vice-president for Europe at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Rafael Schvartzman has just told the IATA's general meeting in Brazil that there was a hard risk of challenging wait times this summer. The Times reports he said: “We are talking about expectations of three, four, five, six hours, which is unacceptable.”
Among respondents, 39% of UK travellers said they would be much less likely to travel with a three hour or greater delay scenario, followed by 33% of travellers from both the United States and Canada, and 27% from Australia.
Applying these findings to visitor forecasts, the WTTC suggested that up to 41 million arrivals and $45.4 billion in spending could be at risk should significant delays become a persistent feature of the visitor experience.
While the research highlights the potential consequences of disruption, it also revealed strong underlying support for EES. Sixty-five per cent of respondents said they supported the system after learning about it, and only 6% were very negative towards the use of biometric border controls.
However, awareness remained low. More than half of travellers (55%) had heard little or nothing about EES, while 49% did not know what would be required of them when entering or exiting the Schengen Area.
The WTTC used the survey findings to call for governments, border authorities and the travel and tourism sector to work together to ensure the implementation was as smooth as possible.
Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of WTTC, said: “The introduction of EES is an important step forward in modernising Europe’s borders and strengthening security. Our research clearly shows that travellers support digital and biometric border systems and understand the long-term benefits they can deliver.”
She added: “The good news is that solutions already exist. By making greater use of digital pre-registration tools, improving traveller communications and ensuring operational readiness at border crossing points, Europe can reduce friction and deliver the seamless experience travellers expect.”
To support a successful rollout, WTTC called for three priority actions, including the acceleration of adoption of the Travel to Europe app for digital pre-registration by member states; a coordinated communication campaign across key source markets including the UK, with clear step-by-step guidance provided for airlines, airports, travel agents, tour operators and destination partners so that travellers understand what is required before they travel; and fully functioning equipment and sufficient staffing to ensure operational readiness across all border crossing points.
