Cartagena in Spain to introduce Covid cover

Minister of Tourism Cristina Sánchez López announced that it will launch a Covid insurance policy for tourists travelling to Cartagena, in a measure that seeks to improve the image of the region of Murcia as a safe destination. This travel assistance insurance, with an investment of €500,000, aims to provide coverage to approximately 900,000 national and international tourists, and is focused on covering medical costs connected to Covid-19 for tourists travelling to the area.

Murcia has seen an increase in tourism employment

According to recent data from an INE labour force survey, the region of Murcia is the only autonomous community where the number of people employed in tourist activities increased in the last quarter of 2020, with a year-on-year increase of 2.1 per cent, reaching 43,839 people.

The councillor has stated that the community has dealt with 5,000 business files to date, which has resulted in the payment of €22 million in aid as of 31 December. Sánchez admitted, however, that ‘everything that is done will be insufficient to recover the activity prior to the crisis’ and affirmed that in the latest budgets, there will be another €21 million put aside for the hospitality sector.

Last year, several countries that are dependent on tourism introduced Covid-19 insurance, including Turkey and Portugal.