Coronavirus could cause 50 million job losses in the travel and tourism sector

The World Travel and Tourism Council expected that the outbreak of the new Coronavirus (Covid-19) would endanger approximately 50 million jobs in the tourism and travel sector globally, indicating that the outbreak of the virus represents a serious threat to this vital sector.

With the cancellation of thousands of flights and the suspension of some activities of tourism and insurance companies linked to the sector, the World Travel and Tourism Council called on governments to take several steps to protect this industry, such as canceling or simplifying travel visas as much as possible as well as reducing costs.

The Council noted the importance of reducing taxes on travelers such as the air travel tax, and reducing unnecessary barriers in ports and airports, pointing out that this industry provides about 319 million jobs, or about 10% of all global jobs, by the end of 2018.

He explained that the spread of Coronavirus will lead to losses of 22 billion Dollars for the global tourism sector, and according to the Council, the spread of the H1N1 flu virus has estimated its economic damage at about 55 billion dollars (50 billion euros).

The International Air Transport Association "IATA" said recently, that the losses of the global aviation sector may reach about 63 billion dollars in case the virus is controlled, but thet believes that if the virus spreads more widely, the losses may reach 113 billion dollars, IATA also called on governments to reduce airline taxes and fees.

OAG, the world's largest network of air traffic data, issued a report that showed a sharp decline in seats booked, especially to countries most affected by the spread of the virus.

World Tourism Organization data show that the number of international tourists around the world reached about 1.5 billion tourists during the past year, with a growth of 4%.

Sources:

The Washington Post

Business Day