Covid-19 and Transforming Tourism

Abstract

Tourism came to a standstill in mid-March 2020. International tourist arrivals decreased by 56 per cent in the first months of the year, with numbers in May down by 98 per cent. This translates into a loss of nearly $320 billion in exports – over three times what was lost during the whole of the 2009 global economic crisis. Forward-looking scenarios point to possible declines in arrivals and receipts from international tourism of 58 per cent to 78 per cent for the whole year depending on the speed of containment of the pandemic, the duration of travel restrictions and the gradual re-opening of borders that has now begun but remains uncertain