The coronavirus pandemic could cost world tourism two trillion dollars in lost revenue. This forecast was announced during the report of the UN World Tourism Organization.
Concerns about the new strain of omicron have forced the introduction of new travel restrictions in some countries.
“Uneven vaccination rates around the world and new COVID-19 strains may affect the already slow and fragile recovery of the tourism industry,” the UNWTO report says.
The organization added that surges in oil prices and disruption of global supply chains could also affect demand for travel. The head of UNWTO, Zurab Pololikashvili, called on the countries to coordinate their restrictions, since tourists are “confused and do not know how to travel.”
“This is a historical crisis in the tourism industry, but again, tourism is able to recover fairly quickly,” Pololikashvili added.
It is noted that in Europe, North and South America, in the third quarter of 2021, there was a relative increase in tourism indicators. The number of arrivals in the Asia-Pacific region has decreased by as much as 95 percent compared to 2019. A number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and China, have a zero-covid policy and have imposed strict restrictions on international travel.
Among the major destinations, Croatia, Mexico and Turkey showed the strongest recovery in the period from July to September. The Caribbean showed the highest results among all the subregions identified by the organization, so the number of arrivals increased by 55 percent compared to 2020.
Earlier, a number of countries restricted international flights due to the new COVID-19 strain.
