Pandemic to cost global tourism $2.7 trillion this year: UN

MADRID • The coronavirus pandemic will cost global tourism US$2 trillion (S$2.7 trillion) in lost revenue this year, the UN's tourism body said yesterday, calling the sector's recovery fragile and slow.

The forecast from the Madrid-based World Tourism Organisation comes as Europe grapples with a surge in infections and as the new heavily mutated Omicron variant spreads across the globe.

International tourist arrivals will this year remain 70-75 per cent below the 1.5 billion arrivals recorded in 2019 before the pandemic hit, a similar decline as in 2020, according to the UN body.

The global tourism sector already lost US$2 trillion in revenue last year, making it one of sectors hit hardest by the health crisis.

While the tourism body does not have an estimate for how the sector will perform next year, its medium-term outlook is not encouraging. "Despite the recent improvements, uneven vaccination rates around the world and new Covid-19 strains could impact the already slow and fragile recovery," it said.

The introduction of fresh virus restrictions and lockdowns in several nations in recent weeks shows how "it's a very unpredictable situation", the agency's head Zurab Pololikashvili said ahead of the start of the its annual general assembly in Madrid today.

"It's a historical crisis in the tourism industry."

While international tourism has taken a hit from the outbreaks of diseases in the past, the coronavirus is unprecedented in its geographical spread. On top of virus-related travel restrictions, the sector is also grappling with the economic strain caused by the pandemic, the spike in oil prices and the disruption of supply chains.

Mr Pololikashvili urged nations to harmonise their virus protocols and restrictions. A total of 46 destinations - 21 per cent of all destinations worldwide - have their borders completely closed to tourists, according to the UN agency.

A further 55 have their borders partially closed to foreign visitors, while just four nations - Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Mexico - have lifted all virus-related restrictions.

The future of the travel sector will be in focus at the tourism organisation's annual general assembly, which will run until Friday.

Before the pandemic, the tourism sector accounted for about 10 per cent of the world's gross domestic product and jobs.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE