• The measure, which should facilitate safe travel, could also be a lifeline for companies in the tourism sector.
• EU to EU destination searches on Kiwi.com are at pre-pandemic levels, with June 2021 seeing almost half a billion searches made to book travel between June and September.

1 July 2021 – The EU Digital COVID Certificate will come into force today in all Member States of the European Union, a measure that will simplify the process of crossing borders with the intention of maintaining the security of both travelers as well as local people. Kiwi.com, the leading travel technology company, considers this European health passport could lead to a real revival of travel within Europe this summer.

“Establishing the different travel rules and regulations in the last year and a half has been a real challenge for the authorities. At Kiwi.com, we welcome any actions taken to enable our customers to travel freely, fairly and safely and this boost to achieving safe circulation will positively affect travel for the rest of the year. As a company dedicated to travel, the implementation of this certificate is likely to have a direct impact on our activity, and could be the key to making travel normal again for Europeans”, stated Mario Gavira, Vice President of Growth at Kiwi.com.

“Bookings have been growing since May and we foresee that, with the lifting of more restrictive measures, such as the need to quarantine, added to the good rate of vaccination in the continent, intra-European travel could increase by over 100% this summer in comparison to last. 

“At Kiwi.com we have seen EU to EU destination searches almost at pre-pandemic levels, with June 2021 seeing close to 500 million searches for booking travel departing in the summer months of this year”, added Gavira.

A recent Kiwi.com survey*, developed by Stem Mark, confirms this trend, with 49% of respondents saying that Europe will be the continent they will travel to this year. Eighty-three percent believe that the vaccination campaign will save the tourism industry and 63% welcome the introduction of the EU COVID Digital Certificate. The beach is still the favorite destination of the majority (57%). 

To obtain the passport, it is necessary to comply with the vaccination requirements (approved by the European Medicines Agency), recovery or having a negative test. Citizens of each state will have the option of acquiring the certificate on paper or digitally, free of charge, which can be stored on mobile phones. This certificate will include a QR code and essential personal information that verifies its authenticity and validity.

For more information, please visit Kiwi.com Stories.

* Sample of 1012 people aged 18-59 in the Czech Republic.

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About Kiwi.com

Kiwi.com is a leading travel tech company founded in 2012. Its proprietary algorithm – Virtual Interlining – allows users to build unique itineraries to combine flights and ground transportation from more than 800 carriers and connects many that do not have commercial agreements. Kiwi.com powers more than 100 million searches every day and employs 2,000 people worldwide.

Kiwi.com Media Contacts

Carol Barnes, Head of Global Communications, Kiwi.com
[email protected]