While tourism has rebounded, both tourist numbers and export revenues in 2022 remained 34% below 2019 levels
Tourism was one of the most impacted industries by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and lost $2.6 trillion in export revenues, which is one and a half times what it earned in 2019, according to a new report by a United Nations’ body.
The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recently released a report on international tourism, looking at the impact on the industry to 2022 from 2020. International Tourism Highlights, 2023 Edition – The Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism (2020–2022) was released September 7, 2023.
International tourist arrivals or overnight visitors fell from 1.5 billion in 2019 to 400 million in 2020, a 72 per cent drop in just one year. This resulted in a billion fewer international tourists as a result of global lockdowns, widespread travel restrictions, and a drop in visitor demand, the report said.
Export revenues in 2020 dropped to as low as 62 per cent of the pre-pandemic levels, meaning losses of $1.1 trillion. This accounted for 44 per cent of the global loss in international trade that year. This massive drop far outweighed the 4 per cent drop during the global economic crisis in 2009, the UNWTO reported.
Revenues from international tourism accounted for seven per cent of global exports in 2019. The proportion dropped to three per cent in 2020 and 2021, before rebounding to four per cent in 2022, it added.
International tourism experienced a 12 per cent increase in 2021 to reach 456 million arrivals. Although this was 49 million more than in 2020, it was still 69 per cent less than the pre-pandemic levels of 2019 (1,465 million), the report further said.
Export revenues from international tourism also rebounded slightly in 2021, but stayed at 59 per cent below 2019 levels to reach $761 billion. Domestic travel recovered faster than international tourism, contributing to the overall recovery of the tourism industry, particularly in large domestic markets, the UNWTO said.
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Some 963 million tourists travelled internationally in 2022 — more than double than those in 2021, but still 34 per cent lower than 2019 levels. Export revenues also significantly rebounded, reaching $1.25 trillion. While this was a 52 per cent increase from 2021, it was still 34 per cent below prepandemic levels.
Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a loss of 2.6 billion international arrivals in 2020, 2021 and 2022, nearly double the arrivals recorded in 2019, the report found.
Due to the pandemic, tourism’s economic contribution, measured in tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP), has been cut in half, from 4 per cent of global GDP in 2019 to 2 per cent in 2020 and 2021.
It then grew to 2.5 per cent in 2022 according to preliminary estimates. The total loss in TDGDP for the three years amounted to $4.2 trillion, the report added.
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The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a loss of 2.6 billion international arrivals in 2020, 2021, and 2022, nearly double the arrivals recorded in 2019. Photo: iStock.png)
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