Madrid:
The coronavirus crisis expense the international tourism sector $1.3 trillion in lost income in 2020 as the quantity of folks travelling plunged, the UN mentioned Tuesday, calling it “the worst year in tourism history”.
Revenue lost final year amounted to “more than 11 times the loss recorded during the 2009 global economic crisis,” the Madrid-based World Tourism Organization mentioned in a statement, warning that among one hundred and 120 million direct tourism jobs had been at threat.
International tourist arrivals fell by one billion, or 74 %, in 2020 with Asia, the initially area to really feel the influence of Covid-19, seeing the steepest decline, it added.
“While much has been made in making safe international travel a possibility, we are aware that the crisis is far from over,” WTO head Zurab Pololikashvili mentioned in the statement.
While the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines is anticipated to “slowly normalise travel” in 2021, several nations are reintroducing stricter travel restrictions such as quarantines, mandatory testing and comprehensive border closures “due to the evolving nature of the pandemic”, the UN body mentioned.
International tourism arrivals rose by 4 % in 2019 to 1.5 billion, with France the world’s most visited nation, followed by Spain and the United States.
The final time international tourist arrivals posted an annual decline was in 2009 when the international financial crisis led to a 4 % drop.
The WTO mentioned most specialists do not to see a return to pre-pandemic levels of tourism activity taking place just before 2023.
()