International tourism numbers might decline by 58% to 78% this year amounting to a loss of $910 billion to $1.2 trillion in tourism exports which went up to $1.5 trillion in 2019.
As per a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report, the tourism industry’s concerns will initiate a loss of 1.5% to 2.8% on global GDP, translating to a loss of $1.17 trillion to $2.22 trillion for the global economy.
Tourism ranks as the third largest export sector in world economy. It accounts for more than 30% of exports for many of the small island developing states (SIDS).
Islands like St Lucia, tourism figures for around 90% of all exports. In 2019, tourism accounted for 10% of all exports in Africa. It generated 7% of all trade and employed 1 in 10 people worldwide. There were 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals and 8.8 billion domestic arrivals in 2019.
In the period between January and August 2020, the number of international tourist arrivals dropped by 70%, according to the UNWTO, resulting in $730 billion loss for tourism exports.
China’s domestic tourism sector is expected to undergo a 52% decline this year based on a study by the China Tourism Academy.
Tags:UNCTAD, UNWTO, International tourism
