World Tourism Organization: COVID-19 will set global tourism back 20 years

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today released a new report citing data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to quantify the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global tourism industry, warning that up to 120 million tourism jobs are at risk and economic losses could exceed $1 trillion in 2020 alone.

"The urgent task is to rebuild the tourism sector so that it can regain its status as a provider of decent jobs, stable incomes and the protection of cultural and natural heritage," said Guterres. Guterres stressed that as one of the most important economic sectors, tourism provides livelihoods for thousands of people while "promoting economic development and enabling countries to thrive."

Due to the various lockdown measures imposed when the coronavirus began to spread rapidly around the world in March, international travel stopped growing sharply in April and May in the first five months of 2020, and the number of international tourists decreased by nearly 60% year-on-year. The World Tourism Organization predicts that due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, international tourism revenue (i.e. international tourist spending) will fall by US$910 billion to US$1.2 trillion this year, which will set the global tourism industry back 20 years.