Pandemic turns summer into European tourism's leanest season

A tour operator in a protective face mask sits in an empty tour bus as he speaks with a couple on the market square of Bruges, Belgium. The question of whether there will be more lockdowns, nationwide restrictions or limits on international travel still haunts everyone.

A tour operator stands under an umbrella with a British and American flag as she waits for customers in the center of Bruges. Over the summer, though, came fresh spikes in COVID-19 contamination, new restrictive measures and regional color codes that spelled disaster for local tourism when they turn red.

Horse and carriage tour operators wait in the center of Bruges. It all quickly trickles down to hotels, restaurants, shops and the survival of families. For those who own the building it is more manageable than for those who rent a building, since often those monthly payments must continue to come. With reservations down for the next months, some hotels will just close down, knowing the costs will never match up to the puny revenue. Others are using the low winter rates in summer.

A couple in protective face masks look a tourist map in the centre of Bruges, Belgium.

Swans float under a canal bridge in Bruges, Belgium. Tourism sector losses have piled up in the tens of billions of euros across the 27-nation European Union, and the continent's vaunted government support and social security system is under increasing strain to prop up the sector.

It is a feeling felt through much of the bloc and a special EU summit is already planned for early October on how to reinvigorate and reform tourism in general. Unsure how long the pandemic will last, Bruges has already decided to forego any blockbuster exhibits. Instead, it will center on local artists who have been hart hit financially by the pandemic. It includes a photographer tasked to show the solitude that COVID-19 has spawned in the city. Above, a boy in a protective face mask looks into the window of a shop selling tapestry items in the center of Bruges.

A group of people, wearing protective face masks, walk by an exhibition advertisement for the Groeninge Museum in Bruges. Attendance has now slumped to a quarter of what it was in 2019 at Bruges museums. But during the uptick in July ``we had 50%." ``So it's declining gradually. Every month we see the numbers declining," said Jonathan Nowakowski, the business director of Bruges Museums. ``I can tell you that we're looking at losses of 3.4 to 4 million euros this year," all happening despite expectations being high in a Van Eyck memorial year with special exhibits.

"The hardest thing is that you don't know what the future will bring. We don't know how it's gonna be in September, October, when the real chocolate season starts. Then it's Halloween, Santa Claus, Christmas." Now, winter and more uncertainty beckons . Above, a shopkeeper, wearing a protective face mask, waits for shoppers in an empty chocolate shop in the center of Bruges.

Two women, wearing protective face masks, walk by a gift shop selling tea. Tourism sector losses have piled up in the tens of billions of euros across the 27-nation European Union, and the continent's vaunted government support and social security system is under increasing strain to prop up the sector.

Restaurant co-owner Luc Broes sits inside his empty dining room at the Duc de Bourgogne restaurant. It all quickly trickles down to hotels, restaurants, shops and the survival of families.

Two waiters, in protective face masks, wait on a nearly empty terrace at a restaurant.