Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the tourism industry due to the resulting travel restrictions as well as slump in demand among travelers. The tourism industry has been massively affected by the spread of coronavirus, as many countries have introduced travel restrictions in an attempt to contain its spread.[1] The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimated that global international tourist arrivals could have decreased by 58% to 78% in 2020, leading to a potential loss of US $0.9–1.2 trillion in international tourism receipts.[2]

In many of the world's cities, planned travel went down by 80–90%.[3] Conflicting and unilateral travel restrictions occurred regionally[4][5] and many tourist attractions around the world, such as museums, amusement parks, gyms and sports venues closed down. After March 2020, tourist firms' connectivity has skyrocketed. Restaurants are the most significantly impacted subsectors of tourism, followed by airline firms.[6] UNWTO reported a 65% drop in international tourist arrivals in the first six months of 2020.[7] Air passenger travel showed a similar decline.[8] The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released a report in June 2021 stating that the global economy could lose over US$4 trillion as a result of the pandemic.[9]

  1. ^ "BBC Business News". BBC News. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  2. ^ "International Tourist Numbers Could Fall 60–80% in 2020". unwto.org. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  3. ^ Team, The Visual and Data Journalism (28 March 2020). "Coronavirus: A visual guide to the pandemic". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020.
  4. ^ "EU's Politics-Oriented Approach To Border Reopening Is Risking Recovery". Schengen Visa Info. 13 July 2020. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Airlines and Airports Warn European PMs on Inconsistent Approach to Travel Restrictions". Schengen Visa Info. 4 August 2020. Archived from the original on 16 August 2020.
  6. ^ Abdelsalam, Omneya; Aysan, Ahmet Faruk; Cepni, Oguzhan; Disli, Mustafa (March 2023). "The spillover effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: Which subsectors of tourism have been affected more?". Tourism Economics. 29 (2): 559–567. doi:10.1177/13548166211053670. ISSN 1354-8166.
  7. ^ "International Tourist Numbers Down 65% in First Half of 2020". unwto.org. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Airlines may need to retool routes with decline in business travel". Marketplace. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  9. ^ United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (30 June 2021). "COVID-19 and Tourism: An Update" (PDF). Retrieved 30 June 2021.