THE ITALIAN WAY TO DEAL WITH THE PANDEMIC 191 the organisers are recommended to offer added value to vouchers than the value of the service originally booked, to make them more attractive. The Commission invites the Member States to actively consider setting up guarantee schemes for vouchers to ensure that in the event of insolvency of the issuer of the voucher, passengers or travellers are reimbursed. They also may decide whether to introduce specific measures to provide support to operators to ensure that reimbursement claims caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are satisfied and, following the bankruptcy of a carrier or organiser, to cover reimbursement claims of passengers or travellers. In the worst-case scenario, the Temporary Framework on State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 crisis adopted by the Commission could intervene. Based on Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty, it would provide a basis for liquidity support, by allowing operators receive, among other, direct grants, tax advantages, State guarantees for loans and subsidised public loans. In other words, according to the Commission, the alternative to liquidity problems arising from the fact that all travellers may opt for a cash refund seems to be the financial support to tour operators: as a matter of fact, the vouchers that the organisers may offer to passengers or travellers, as an alternative to cash reimbursement, would be subject to the passenger’s or traveller’s voluntary acceptance 6. FINAL REMARKS In the end, using vouchers as an alternative to a cash refund has been an interesting idea to deal with the pandemic by avoiding the collapse of the Italian travel and tourism sector. This is for sure, at least in the short period, without prejudice to the problem of its compatibility with the EU regulatory framework. However, the real question is whether this can become the definitive longterm solution or not. The emergency required the adoption of extraordinary and urgent measures. The return to normal requires us to consider the relational framework of passengers, travellers and guests, on the one hand, and carriers, tour operators and hoteliers, on the other, taking into account all market components and the different types of travel services. The global travel and tourism industry has been ravaged by COVID-19, a classic example of a black swan event. While many are looking backwards to compare the current market environment with the post-9/11 or other periods of the past, it is preferable to look straight ahead and try to address the tough
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