COVID-19: Global Tourism Lose $320bn in 5 Months

The global tourism sector has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, with $320 billion missing in revenues in the first five months of the year and more than 120 million workers at risk, the UN leader said Tuesday, reports ABC News.

In an economic update and video statement, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that tourism is the third-largest export industry in the world economy, after fuels and chemicals, which accounted for 7 % of global trade in 2019.

“It employs one in every 10 people on Earth and provides livelihoods to hundreds of millions more,” he said.

In addition to improving economies, "it helps us to explore some of the world's cultural and natural resources and put us together, reflecting our shared humanity," he said.

Yet the UN leader claimed that, in the first five months of 2020, overseas visitor arrivals had declined by more than half owing to the pandemic and profits had plunged.

Guterres said this has been a “major shock” for richer developed nations “but for developing countries, it is an emergency, particularly for many small islands developing states and African countries.”

Tourism for some of those countries represents more than 20% of their GDP, he explained.

Sandra Carvao, UN World Tourism Organization's chief business analysis, and sustainability representative said the $320 billion incurred in exports from January to May was three times the shortfall in 2009 at the height of the last global financial crisis.

And according to the policy briefing, “export revenues from tourism could fall by $910 billion to $1.2 trillion in 2020” and that “could reduce global GDP by 1.5% to 2.8%.”

In addition to tourism jobs that are at risk, the policy paper said jobs in associated sectors, including food service, that provide employment for 144 million workers worldwide are also at risk.

It stressed that small businesses, “are particularly vulnerable.”

Guterres said tourism “is also a key pillar for the conservation of natural and cultural heritage.”

According to the briefing, some 7% of world tourism relates to wildlife, “a segment growing by 3% annually.”

“The fall in revenues has led to increased poaching and habitat destruction in and around protected areas,” the secretary-general said, “and the closure of many World Heritage sites has deprived communities of vital livelihoods.”

Guterres called for the tourism industry to be restored in a manner that is secure for local populations, staff, and tourists, and that is also "equitable and environmentally sensitive."

Noting that travel bans and border controls exist even after some have been removed, Carvao said that "the recovery would rely very much on the nature of the pandemic and the economic situation."

“No country has escaped the impact of COVID on tourism,” she said.