The emergence of new variants of the Covid-19 virus has prompted many governments to reverse efforts to ease restrictions on travel, according to new UNWTO research.
70pc of destinations lift travel restrictions, but global gap emerging
The number of destinations closed to international tourism has continued to fall. According to the eighth edition of the UNWTO Travel Restrictions Report, 70 per cent of all global destinations have eased restrictions on travel introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In comparison, just one in four destinations continue to keep their borders completely closed to international tourists.
Launched by the World Tourism Organization at the start of the pandemic, the Travel Restrictions Report keeps track of measures being taken in 217 destinations worldwide, helping to support the mitigation and recovery efforts of the tourism sector. For this latest edition, the methodology has been updated to offer insights into the tourism flows of destinations, as well as to explore the link between health and hygiene infrastructure, environmental performance and any potential connection to travel restrictions.
Published December 18, 2020, 5:17 PM
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said 2020 is the worst year in the history of tourism as international arrivals fell by 72 percent in the first ten months of the year amid continued travel restrictions and low consumer confidence.
The UN specialized body also pointed out that a return to 2019 levels in terms of international arrivals could take between two-and-a-half and four years.
As most countries struggle to contain COVID-19, the latest data from the UNWTO revealed that destinations have 900 million fewer international tourists between January to October compared to the same period last year. This translates into a loss of $935 billion in export revenues from international tourism, more than ten times the loss of the 2009 global economic crisis.