European Countries Face Second Lockdown – Leisure & Amusement Parks Close Doors Again
The feared “second wave“ of the coronavirus spread is keeping European countries firmly in its grip and is prompting states once again to take stricter measures in order to control the current sharp rise in the number of infected persons and reduce the incidence rate. New regulations also affect theme parks, FECs and water parks, despite the fact that such facilities had developed and successfully implemented detailed hygiene and safety concepts in close cooperation with the authorities.
After the immediate closure of amusement parks in Belgium that was announced last Friday and will last for a period of at least one month (cf. EAP News of 23 Oct 2020 & statement by Plopsa CEO Steve Van den Kerkhof here), indoor and outdoor leisure facilities in Ireland, Italy and Spain have also had to close down completely or partially (in Spain: businesses in Catalonia are mainly affected at the moment). The measures decided on so far in individual European countries affect bathing complexes and pools only selectively: In Belgium, for example, the swimming and adventure pools remain open for the time being.
In Germany and France, the respective national governments held an emergency conference yesterday to discuss the further strategy for their countries in the fight against the second pandemic wave. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Minister Presidents of the federal states have agreed on a “lockdown light“, including that as of Monday, 2 Nov, “institutions and facilities that are associated with leisure activities“ will be closed until 30 Nov, including amusement parks, all indoor and outdoor leisure facilities as well as all public and privately managed sports facilities, swimming pools and waterparks and gastronomic businesses. Whether zoos and animal parks are also referred to is not explicitly defined in the resolution paper – during the first lockdown, these facilities were among the first to receive special permits for reopening.
Olaf Scholz, the German Minister of Finance, promised aids of between 70 and 75 percent (depending on the size of the company) of the previous year’s turnover in November for all companies and businesses that now have to close again. France will also enter in another lockdown phase tomorrow. All amusement parks, public and fun pools, indoor leisure facilities as well as zoos and animal parks will close for the next weeks, amongst other measures adopted. (eap)
