The Diplomat
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates that some 111 million jobs could be recovered in the travel and tourism sector this year as the impact of the pandemic is reduced.
The WTTC expects the industry to be on the road to recovery by the end of March, with many major tourism companies claiming they are already seeing significant increases in bookings for the summer, reports Europa Press.
According to the WTTC’s 2020 Economic Impact Report, Travel & Tourism was responsible for one in ten jobs worldwide (330 million in total), contributing 10.3% to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs.
Last year, during the height of the pandemic, the WTTC warned that 174 million travel and tourism jobs were at risk. However, in its latest analysis, the WTTC’s most optimistic scenario predicts that up to 111 million jobs could be revived, but this would still be 17% below the 2019 figures, representing 54 million jobs lost.
The most optimistic forecasts are that recovery will begin at the end of March thanks to the expansion of vaccination programs, testing and tracking programs, as well as a continued strong international public-private partnership. In the worst case scenario, recovery from international travel would be delayed to the second half of the year.
The Council’s president and advisor, Gloria Guevara, is confident of “a strong tourist summer, thanks to the combination of continuing to wear the masks, the development of global vaccination plans and the testing at the exit of the destination, thus unlocking the door to international travel once again.
However, Guevara has warned that one must be “on guard” against complacency, because there is still a long way to go, there will be “many more obstacles in it”.
In his view, vaccinations in major source markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States could help put the pandemic behind us “and move forward into a world where travel is possible again.
The latest WTTC studies reveal that even in the best case scenario, the tourism industry’s contribution to global GDP will fall by 17% from 2019 figures, to $7.4 trillion (6.11 trillion at today’s exchange rate). In the most conservative scenario, with a slower recovery, the drop would reach 27% to 6.5 trillion dollars (5.3 trillion euros).
WTTC assures that these latest predictions “describe the significant challenges facing the industry as it prepares for recovery in the coming months, once the impact of the global launch of vaccination programs is felt and travel restrictions are eased.
