Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – The latest tourism data issued by the World Tourism Organization shows that this year tourist destinations received 900 million fewer international tourists than the year 2019 between January and October, due to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic that suspended travel and business. Business around the world.
The decline in the number of international tourists has led to a loss in export earnings from international tourism of 935 billion dollars, more than 10 times the loss of tourism in 2009 under the impact of the global economic crisis.
The World Tourism Organization expects the number of international arrivals to decrease between 70% and 75% for the whole of 2020. If the forecast is correct, then global tourism may return to the levels of 30 years ago, with a decrease in the number of arrivals by one billion people and a loss of about 1.1 trillion dollars in international tourism revenues. This massive decrease in tourism could also lead to an economic loss of $ 2 trillion in global GDP.
World Tourism Organization Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili says, “Despite the vaccine news that may boost travelers’ confidence, the road to recovery is still long. Thus, we need to intensify our efforts to safely open borders with support for tourism jobs and companies. It has become clear that tourism is one of the most. Sectors affected by this unprecedented crisis. “
The Asia-Pacific region, the first region to suffer from the impact of the epidemic and the highest levels of travel restrictions to date, saw an 82% decrease in the number of arrivals in the first 10 months of 2020, while the Middle East experienced the second largest decline of 73%. . Africa witnessed a decrease of 69%, while the number of international arrivals in Europe and the Americas decreased by 68%.
Learn more about how the number of international arrivals has been affected in light of the travel restrictions imposed by the Corona pandemic in the above infographic:
