GlobeAir is offering reassurance to its clients in Austria, Sardinia, Campania and Croatia, as those destinations team up with their respective governments to enable leisure summer tourism for second-home owners and affluent travellers.

As European governments slowly ease their restrictions, those enduring the COVID-19 lockdown are weighing up the available options to travel safely in the months ahead. As much as hospitality facilities are resilient and currently drafting detailed plans to give the industry a fresh start, strict safety measures and increased controls while travelling are to be expected.

GlobeAir says that tavellers seeking COVID-free destinations will be looking for travel options in those countries that have best managed the crisis. As commercial airlines are still grounded, private jet charter companies such as GlobeAir will seek to offer the best alternative to reach those destinations safely.

Governments are still drafting regulations, and uncertainty around travelling policies is still high. Nevertheless, it is already possible to identify which countries are on the right path towards offering safe travelling options in the near future.

“We have now learnt how to adjust to the new normal by practising social distancing. Although the way we travel could change drastically in the future, it is still important to acknowledge the fact that travelling is a necessity for many of us," says GlobeAir CEO Bernhard Fragner.

Austria has been regarded as one of the safest places to be; Vienna, the Salzkammergut lake region and Salzburg town are expected to be top-of-the-list travel locations as soon as hotel bans are lifted on 29 May. Austria's ban on commercial inbound flights coming from some of the countries that have been most affected by COVID-19, including France and Spain, is to last until 22 May, according to announcements published on 1 May.

Despite the terrible impact that COVID-19 has had on the Italian peninsula, Sardinia has been an exception. Isolated from the mainland: "Sardinia is a safe place to visit," reports Sardinia's President Solinas. From June onwards, when airports in Sardinia will gradually reopen for travellers, passengers will be asked to show a negative COVID-19 test and will need to undergo a quick COVID-19 test upon arrival. A mobile app to track travellers' movements around the island could also see travellers preferring starred hotels located around the main airports of the region, namely Olbia Costa Smeralda, Alghero and Cagliari.

GlobeAir is working closely with the local travel experience and concierge services provider 4experience to arrange all-in-one trips to Sardinia, including everything from private jet flights to luxury accommodation, in safety. Porto Cervo, Costa Smeralda's most sophisticated location, will welcome high-end tourism this year too. Naples, Amalfi and Capri are also getting ready to start operating again in June with major hotels such as the Romeo Hotel, the Grand Hotel Vesuvio, Le Sirenuse, Santa Catarina in Ravello and others already confirming reopening dates.

Croatia will reopen its borders on 17 May; as per the latest government announcements, hospitality facilities will be operative again by mid-June when the so-called ‘tourist-corridor’ project is to begin. The country has reported one of the lowest European mortality rates per capita with only 33 deaths ascribable to COVID-19. International travellers with a valid health certificate will be allowed in both by road and by air. GlobeAir expects visitors to prefer Zadar, Dubrovnik and Split for their yachting and seaside travel offerings.