The World Tourism Organization of the United Nations Agency revealed that the global tourism sector lost $1,300 billion in 2020 due to restrictions on movement due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This number represents 11 times more losses than those recorded during the global economic crisis in 2009 and translates into a decline in the flow of tourists in the world by 74 percent compared to 2019.
According to the organization, the year 2020 was the worst year in the history of tourism, with the number of tourists in the world falling by a billion people compared to 2019. Note that during the global financial crisis in 2008-2009, the number of visitors decreased by only 4 percent. The organization revealed that 100 to 120 million direct jobs are threatened in tourism, many of them in small and medium-sized companies. Prospects for improving tourism in the world are expected to decline in 2021, indicating that global tourism will need two and a half to four years to return to 2019 levels.
In this context, the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, Zurab Pololikashvili, affirmed that "the crisis will not end soon," pointing out to the "work to coordinate and digitize measures to reduce risks associated with Covid-19 in terms of travel, especially infection detection checks, tracing the cases and vaccination certificates are essential to promoting safe travel and prepare for the recovery of tourism when conditions permit."
Asia-Pacific is the region that witnessed the largest decline in the number of tourists in 2020 (-84% within a year) because it was the first to be affected by the epidemic and is still currently imposing the most stringent restrictions on travel. As for Europe, the decline was recorded at 70% within a year, but the continent witnessed the largest decline in terms of numbers, as it lost 500 million visitors. The Middle East and Africa region registered a decline of 75% and the Americas 69%.
Source (Al-Arabiya.net website, Edited)
