In 2020, some 62 million jobs were lost, representing a drop of 18.5 percent, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) report, prepared jointly with Oxford Economics, Report informs.
The contribution of the tourism industry to global GDP in 2019 was 10.4 percent, in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic it decreased to 5.5 percent.
WTTC produces reports on the economic and employment impact of Travel & Tourism for 185 countries/economies and 25 geographic or economic regions in the world.
“The Travel & Tourism sector suffered a loss of almost $4.5 trillion to reach $4.7 trillion in 2020, with the contribution to GDP dropping by a staggering 49.1 percent compared to 2019; relative to a 3.7 percent GDP decline of the global economy in 2020,” reads the report.
Prior to the pandemic, Travel & Tourism (including its direct, indirect and induced impacts) accounted for one in four of all new jobs created across the world, 10.6 percent of all jobs (334 million).
“In 2020, 62 million jobs were lost, representing a drop of 18.5 percent, leaving just 272 million employed across the sector globally, compared to 334 million in 2019. The threat of job losses persists as many jobs are currently supported by government retention schemes and reduced hours, which without a full recovery of Travel & Tourism could be lost,” the report noted.
In 2019, travelers spent $1.7 trillion on trips, accounting for almost 7 percent of international exports and 27.4 percent of service exports. In 2020, domestic visitor spending decreased by 45 percent, while international visitor spending declined by an unprecedented 69.4 percent.