A report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) expected that the losses that will be incurred by the global economy due to the decrease in the movement of tourism and travel by between $1.2 trillion (1.5% of global GDP) within the scenario of closing the global economies and the borders completely between countries of the world for a period of four months (or closure by 80% for a period of 5 months) to $3.3 trillion if the closure continues for a period of up to 12 months.
The report estimated the size of the expected losses for employment in the tourism sector and its related sectors at between 10% of the total workers in the sector under the first scenario, and 40% in the third scenario, as the report included a second scenario with the assumption of closing the economies for a period of 8 months, and within this scenario it is expected that the global loss reaches 2.2 trillion dollars.
According to the report, the US economy will be the most affected in terms of value even under the first least impacted scenario, as it is expected to suffer losses amounting to 187 billion dollars, followed by the Chinese economy with a loss expected to reach 104 billion dollars. According to the report, the UAE is among the least affected countries with expectations of a loss of no more than 2% of GDP under the first scenario and 7% within the last excluded scenario.
Source (Al-Kahleej Newspaper-UAE, Edited)
