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Selfie taken by a passenger on board a nearly empty flight from Los Angeles to Monterrey, Mexico, 20 March 2020. Photo credit: Ricardo Cohen / RCview / Shutterstock.com 

It warns that up to 120 million tourism jobs are at risk, with the economic damage likely to exceed $1 trillion in 2020 alone. 

“It is imperative that we rebuild the tourism sector,” Mr. Guterres said, in order for it to “regain its position as a provider of decent jobs, stable incomes and the protection of our cultural and natural heritage.”

The UN Secretary-General stressed tourism’s role as one of the most important economic sectors, providing livelihoods to hundreds of millions of people while “boosting economies and enabling countries to thrive.” 

Due to restrictions imposed in March when the coronavirus started spreading rapidly around the world, international travel came to a screeching halt in April and May, resulting in international tourist arrivals that trailed last year’s total by almost 60 percent through the first five months of 2020.

Depending on when travel restrictions will be fully lifted, the World Tourism Organization expects international tourism receipts (i.e. spending by international tourists) to drop between $910 billion and $1.2 trillion this year, which would set the global tourism industry back by 20 years.

This chart shows global international tourism receipts from 2000-2019 and possible scenarios for 2020
Originally published by Statista

Coronavirus cuts international tourism in half

Earlier this year, the UN’s World Tourism Organization published estimates on how big the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on international tourist arrivals could be. The most positive of the three scenarios published in May assumed that travel restrictions would be lifted in July.

Even under this scenario, which has already turned out to be too optimistic with international travel still severely restricted, the UNWTO expected international tourist arrivals to drop by 58 percent this year compared to 2019. 

Looking at newly released data for the first five months of 2020, the UNWTO’s estimates weren’t far off.

As the following chart shows, international tourist arrivals were down 56 percent globally for the five months ending May 2020 compared to the same period of 2019. Considering that most travel restrictions only came into effect in mid-March, it can be expected that the numbers would look at least as bad, if not worse, if June and July figures were included.

With the recent uptick in new infections in the United States and across Europe proving a major setback in efforts to reanimate the ailing tourism sector, millions of people are fearing for their livelihood, especially in regions heavily dependent on the influx of international tourists.

This chart shows the change in international tourist arrivals from January through May 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year
Originally published by Statista