UNWTO predicts positive progress in summer

The Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zurab Pololikashvili said in an interview with Georgian Pirveli TV that coronavirus had caused great chaos in the tourism industry.

"Realistically, the tourism industry is in considerable turmoil. Many countries have set their limits, many are talking about corridors, but this is not sensible. Because the situation around us changes daily and weekly," the head of UNWTO noted.

According to him, the organization had a forecast for 2020, but the result was completely different.

"I think that the vaccination process will significantly accelerate tourism growth, and the summer of 2021 may be better than last year's catastrophic consequences. I believe that the work of the UNWTO Crisis Committee will yield concrete results, and we will meet the summer with positive figures. But for this, it is necessary to establish coordination and standard rules between the countries," Pololikashvili stressed.

"The UNWTO estimates that global tourism will lose $ 1.3 trillion in 2020, threatening to lose about 100-120 million jobs. Revenues lost in last year were 11 times higher than in 2009, when the global economic crisis hit," its statement said.