Tourism Industry Braces For Continued COVID-19 Downturn - pymnts.com

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Problems with vaccine rollouts and the continuing spread of the coronavirus have dampened the travel industry's expectations for a recovery from the economic issues it's been facing, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) writes.

Destinations like Iceland and Thailand are facing both the delays of the vaccine rollouts as well as new strains of the virus as deterrents for people to start traveling again. The outcome could be stunted travel for years.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization has said 2020 was the worst year on record for tourism, and prospects have worsened for recovery — a survey from October found that 79 percent of experts polled said a recovery was possible in 2021, while now only 50 percent say so.

Around 41 percent of respondents said it might take until around 2024 to have a full rebound.

This is also leading to a loss of jobs.

Earlier this month, James Sowane, who owns a Fiji-based transportation company, called a staff meeting and said employees should start looking for other jobs. While he recently took advantage of a government assistance program and brought back some laid-off workers, optimistic for an April return, now he doesn't think a return is likely to happen until next year. So, facing down depressed wages, he had to make the choice to not string his employees along.

WSJ writes that the travel, tourism and other related business industries were around 10 percent of the global economy and accounted for one in 10 jobs, according to estimates from the World Travel & Tourism Council.

Ross Dowling, an honorary professor of tourism at Edith Cowan University in Australia, said people "will go out of business," and that they couldn't survive no matter their resilience.

Travel has been among the most discussed aspects of how post-pandemic recovery will happen, with many sources saying a solution will likely be some kind of digital health passport that is able to prove one's vaccination and testing status before boarding a plane.

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Tourism Industry Braces For Continued COVID-19 Downturn - pymnts.com
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