The new Covid-19 is just one of the obstacles to the recovery of the global tourism industry

The new Covid-19 is just one of the obstacles to the recovery of the global tourism industryRihards Plūme00:00 / 00:00

—

Tourism is one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. The spread of Covid-19, its restrictions and the unequal coverage of vaccination against Covid-19 in the countries are preventing global tourism from recovering faster from the crisis. An additional concern is the newly discovered variant of the virus omicron, which has led many countries to announce stricter restrictions on entry.

International tourism has previously suffered from outbreaks of dangerous diseases in some parts of the world, but Covid-19 is unprecedented due to its wide geographical distribution.

Before the pandemic, the tourism sector accounted for around 10% of world GDP and provided 10% of all jobs. The industry has been in deep decline for the past two years, according to Zurab Pololikashvili, head of the United Nations (UN) World Tourism Organization (WTO).

“2019 was the best year in terms of the number of guests and revenue in the tourism industry. But the worst in these figures was 2020. This is a historic crisis for the tourism industry, “he told AFP.

The number of international tourists this year will remain between 70% and 75% below the level of 1.5 billion recorded before the 2019 pandemic. There was a similar decline last year. In 2020, the lost revenue of the global tourism industry reached 2 trillion dollars or 1.8 trillion euros. The WTO estimates that the sector will lose just as much revenue this year, despite a slight improvement.

This year, from 1 July to 30 September, international tourism grew by 58% compared to the same period in 2020. However, it was still 64% lower than in 2019.

While Europe and North America saw a small increase in the number of tourists in the third quarter of this year compared to 2019, the number of tourists in the Asia-Pacific region fell by 95% between 1 July and 30 September. A number of countries in the region, such as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, have denied entry to most foreigners.

Information gathered by the WTO shows that 46 countries have now completely closed their borders to foreign tourists, while a further 55 have very strict entry rules. Only four countries – Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic – have lifted almost all restrictions on entry.

Looking to the future, WTO chief Pololikashvili is optimistic.

“Today, we have much more knowledge about Covid-19, many countries are better able to meet sanitary standards, vaccines are available, and digital solutions are available to control tourist flows. If we look at the numbers, 2021 was much better than 2020, so I very much hope that 2022 will be much better than 2021, ”said Pololikashvili.

He pointed out that differing national entry rules confuse travelers. “We always recommend the introduction of uniform and harmonized rules everywhere, because it is not clear to tourists where and when they will be able to go, how and when they will be able to return. Therefore, I very much hope that there will be more clarity about the restrictions and that the countries will be quicker to make decisions, “the WTO chief said.

The future of international tourism will be discussed at the WTO General Assembly, which will take place in the Spanish capital, Madrid, from Tuesday to Friday. Representatives of 159 WTO members will take part in the event.

This year’s WTO General Assembly was due to be hosted by the Moroccan city of Marrakech, but the venue had to be relocated due to Morocco’s refusal to host the event due to the rise in Covid-19.

–