Europeans cancel holidays

More and more European citizens prefer to work without a vacation – they simply do not have the money to go somewhere on vacation.

The Belgians, for example, write euronews, traditionally in July-August they usually go on vacation and go south. But not this year – they will not get to the Mediterranean beaches this season. Ismael Albay, a father of four, is unable to buy air tickets for his extended family:

“This year, the family budget is tight. Holidays are getting more expensive, and to fly to the resort, I have to pay at least 5 thousand euros. We used to go somewhere on vacation every year, but lately we go every three two years”.

Fewer Europeans can afford a week’s vacation not only abroad, but also in their own country, states the European Trade Union Confederation. Last year 2020, 8% of the population of the European Union, which is 38 million people, missed their holidays.

The Greeks, Romanians and Lithuanians had the hardest time of all – almost half of them (40%) stayed at home or continued to work without vacation. But only 7% of the inhabitants of Denmark, Austria and Finland refused to travel on vacation. The lack of proper rest, warns the deputy head of the confederation Esther Lynch, will result in the winter in the discontent of the workers. She says:

“Workers have a real fear that they will not be able to make ends meet, pay rent, buy food and basic necessities, and relax with children and loved ones in decent conditions. The working people need to regain their strength, otherwise their families, the whole society will suffer. It is important to understand that if the workers are disappointed with how they spent the summer, this disappointment will pour into the streets and influence political decision-making.”

Belgium, with which we began our review, is extremely attractive for tourism. But many of its residents yearned for exotic or at least neighboring countries during the pandemic. But the first real vacation in several years turned out to be expensive in all respects.

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