WTTC Reveals the Dreadful Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism

The latest issue of the annual Economic Trends Report by WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council) once again proved that travel restrictions caused by the pandemic had a dramatic impact on tourism and the global economy in general. All regions and millions of people suffered from the drop in revenues.

Asia-Pacific had the biggest change in performance. The contribution of tourism to GDP fell severely, declined by a whopping 53.7%, which is higher than the global average of 49.1%. International visitor spending was the category that suffered the biggest drop – 74.4%. This decline was predictable as many countries had to close their borders and do not let any international tourists in. Domestic tourist spending also fell significantly, losing 48.1%. Today, hotels in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and many other countries still suffer from a lack of customers. This fact made travel and tourism employment shrink by 18.4%, eliminating 34.1 million jobs.

Europe is the second most affected region. Its travel and tourism industry lost 51.4% last year or 987 billion euro. Just like in other parts of the world, coronavirus restrictions made even domestic tourism virtually impossible, leaving hotels, cafes, restaurants, clubs, and other venues nearly bankrupt. The domestic spending decreased by 48.4% and the international spending had even a sharper decline of 63.8%. Surprisingly, this didn’t prevent Europe from remaining the global leader in international tourist spending. Employment in tourism fell by 9.3%, reducing the total number of jobs by 3.6 million.

The GDP contribution of the Middle East’s tourism and travel declined by 5.1% in 2020, and the general picture is similar to the regions mentioned above. Severe travel restrictions nearly destroyed international spending, causing a decline of 70.3%. Domestic spending fell by 42.8%. The Middle East is reliant on tourism, so 2020 was a harsh year. However, some damages were offset by the growing share of domestic travel.

Finally, the Americas was the least affected region with a decline of 42.4%. It retained its largest share in the travel and tourism GDP (35%). The international spending fell significantly in the Americas in 2020 (72.1%) but the decline of domestic spending was lower compared to other regions – 38.9%. The Caribbean was the most affected region as it generally relies on tourism.