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Paving the way to global tourism recovery
The tourism sector's collapse was responsible for the loss of US$1.3 trillion in export revenues, $2 trillion in direct tourism gross domestic product, more than 100 million jobs and 40 percent of global trade worldwide in 2020 alone.
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Travelers walk through the international arrivals hall at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Tuban near Denpasar, Bali, on Feb. 16, 2022, after a Singapore Airlines flight arrived following a nearly two-year break due to COVID-19. (AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka)
The multidimensional crises that the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought across the world since it began two years ago are indeed catastrophic. The travel and tourism sector has taken a crippling hit as countries enforced strict mobility restrictions and closed their borders.
According to United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) data as of September 2020 – barely a year after the coronavirus spread like wildfire – tourist arrivals plummeted by 73 percent. Then the world welcomed 1 billion fewer travelers compared with 2019 and tourism was thrown back to its state of 30 years ago.
The sector’s collapse was responsible for the loss of US$1.3 trillion in export revenues, $2 trillion in direct tourism gross domestic product, more than 100 million jobs and 40 percent in global trade worldwide in 2020 alone.
Travel and tourism are a catalyst for global economic growth and recovery. In 2019, the sector created 330 million jobs – or one in every 10 jobs globally, and contributed 10.3 percent ($8.9 trillion) to global GDP. Across the Group of 20 countries, tourism contributed 211.3 million jobs and $6.7 billion GDP, making it one of the largest economic sectors.
As the main driver of socioeconomic development and job creation, the sector played a pivotal role in poverty eradication and inequality reduction with an estimated 54 percent of its workforce being women and 30 percent young people.
The pandemic began to show signs of receding last year following the global rollout of vaccines and countries easing their mobility curbs. Despite all the positive indications, health protocols need to remain in place.
This development has boosted travelers’ confidence and increased mobility. Cautious about ramifications, some countries like France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Indonesia, China and Australia were occasionally forced to reintroduce stringent travel restrictions due to unexpected spikes in COVID-19 cases. Bali was reopened to international flights in October 2021 and welcomed the first direct flight from overseas last month.
