"Global Tourism Industry Losses Reach $2 Trillion in Second Year of COVID-19"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] It is forecasted that the global tourism industry will suffer losses amounting to 2 trillion dollars (approximately 2,386 trillion won) in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to major foreign media on the 28th (local time), the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) projected that, following last year's losses of 2 trillion dollars, the global tourism industry will again face losses of 2 trillion dollars this year due to the ongoing pandemic impact.

The number of international tourists this year is expected to decrease by 70 to 75% compared to 2019 (1.5 billion), the year before the pandemic. This rate of decline is similar to that of last year, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UNWTO stated that it is uncertain when the tourism industry will recover next year, but the medium- to long-term outlook is not optimistic. They cited the increasing economic burdens caused by soaring international oil prices and global supply chain disruptions, in addition to travel restrictions, as the background for this situation.

Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of UNWTO, said, "Despite recent recovery trends, uneven global vaccination rates and the emergence of new variants such as Delta and Omicron are adversely affecting the recovery of the tourism industry."

In particular, due to the spread of the Omicron pandemic centered in European countries since last week, many countries are once again closing their borders or entering partial lockdowns in some regions, making the outlook for the tourism industry next year uncertain.

According to UNWTO, currently 46 countries, accounting for 21% of countries worldwide, have closed their borders, and 55 countries have partially restricted the entry of foreign tourists.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.