The Mayor of Bruges has expressed support for the introduction of more stringent entry restrictions for Chinese tourists to limit Europeans' potential risk of infection with Covid-19, Belga News Agency has reported.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mayor Dirk De fauw suggested that the restrictions should be implemented at the EU rather than the national level, and were necessary following the Chinese Government's recent decision to abandon its strict zero-Covid policy, which has led to a surge of infections throughout the country.
"Every year, about 100,000 to 150,000 Chinese visitors come to our city," De fauw said. "The infection rate is still very high there. I think we need to work either with a vaccination certificate or with tests. If we want to travel to other countries outside Europe, such measures are also often necessary."
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He added that the EU still has time to implement such measures before Bruges' traditional tourist season gets into full swing.
"Usually [Chinese tourists arrive on] organised group trips and they will only resume in April or May," he said. "So we have some time to work on any restrictions."
