Coronavirus Destroys Tourism Industry – USD 320 Billion Lost and Over 120 Million Jobs Jeopardized

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has stated that the Covid-19 pandemic has destroyed the tourism industry, as USD 320 billion was lost in the first five months of 2020 and more than 120 million jobs are jeopardized.

At a video conference, Guterres said that tourism was the third biggest exporting sector, behind fuel and chemicals, and that it had made for 7% of the trade in the previous year.

– One out of 10 people on the Earth is employed in tourism, securing livelihood for hundreds of millions of people. It stimulates the economy. It enables people to meet some of the world's cultural and natural heritage and brings people closer together – Guterres said.

The Secretary-General of the UN said that, in the first five months of 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, international tourist arrivals had dropped by over 50%.

Guterres said that the impact of Covid-19 on the tourism was a “great shock” for wealthier, more developed states, but that the developing economies were struck even harder, especially small island states and countries in Africa.

For some of these countries, tourism is more than 20% of the GDP, he said.

United Nations

Antonio Guterres

coronavirus

covid 19

pandemic

tourism industry

international tourist arrivals