There's no question that the corona virus has had a profound impact on the tourism industry. However, as the pandemic continues to evolve, it's hard to know how big and how deep its impact will be in the short and long term.
We are still facing the effects of temporary closures, border closures and economic stress, but these 50 statistics show the initial and continuing impact of the Corona virus on the tourism industry. We've broken these data points down into the following areas:
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global travel is not black and white. Some tourism businesses, such as smaller California wine country hotels and hotels near national parks, have achieved record numbers despite a near shutdown of inbound and international travel. Domestic tourism has been anything but safe in the face of the global pandemic. Economic development initiatives that support hotels, tour operators and other travel companies support their employees through assistance programs such as the U.S. PPP (Paycheck Protection Program). Global tourism will recover from this just as it did after the terrorist attacks of 11. September, but experts agree it will take longer than that. The hotel industry has been devastated by the low number of international visitors as tourism demand has fallen to an all-time low and tourism destinations have even turned away potential travelers.
Read on for some of the most notable numbers showing the far-reaching impact of COVID-19.
Global impact: 2020 and beyond
The tourism industry worldwide has been hit by the coronavirus – so much so that global GDP is expected to shrink dramatically and unemployment is expected to skyrocket. Here are a few statistics that show how tourism has been decimated globally.
1. Global travel and tourism revenue is estimated to drop 34.7% to an estimated $447.4 billion. The original forecast for 2020 was for revenue of 712 billion. $.
2. European tourism is expected to be the hardest hit by COVID-19: Travel and tourism revenue in Europe will drop from $211.97 billion in 2019 to about $124 billion in 2020.
3. Tourism industry lost 1.5% of global GDP after four-month shutdown, UN Conference on Trade and Development reported.
4. If international tourism remains closed for more than 12 months, the United Nations projects a loss of 4.2% of global GDP ($3.3 trillion).
5. The World Travel and Tourism Council predicts 121 million of the world's 330 million jobs will be lost by 2020.
6 . Tourism will take a while to recover, says McKinsey. The consulting firm predicts that international tourist arrivals will drop 60% to 80% in 2020 and tourism spending is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels until 2024.
7. Consumers are not only traveling less, but also eating out less. Statista reported that "the decline in the number of seated diners in restaurants worldwide on 23. August 2020 year-on-year was an incredible 41.36."
Tourism in the USA
In the U.S., the economic impact of a slowdown in tourism is expected to be on par with many so-called "developing" countries In addition, the impact of a decline in tourism will have far-reaching effects on many other sectors of the economy.
8. The travel industry says it accounts for 15.8 million American jobs – that's employment for one in 10 Americans. This means that the economic impact of the coronavirus could have a big impact on the U.S. unemployment rate.
9. Some reports predicted that the loss of travel-related jobs has caused the U.S. unemployment rate to double from 3.5% in February to 7.1% in March/April.
10. Based on current trends, experts predict that the U.S. will lose far more in U.S. dollars than any other country and almost twice as much as China.
11. In April, when many states encouraged or mandated that residents stay home, tourists came to Hawaii 99.5% down. Tourism accounts for 21% of the Hawaiian economy.
12. Florida also experienced a decline in tourism, with the tourism sector down 10.7% in the first year Quarter 2020. The state reports that tourism has a $67 billion economic impact on Florida's economy
13. On 11. April 2020 only 3% of hotels in Austin, Texas, were occupied: 342 rooms were booked, compared with 10.777 in 2019.
14. Statista forecasts a $355 billion drop in spending in 2020 in the U.S., a 31% decline.
Air travel
Consumers are not interested in boarding a plane anytime soon, in part due to border closures as well as security concerns and high ticket prices. Air travel is expected to be depressed for a long time to come.
15. Travel restrictions at borders affected air travel and other modes of transportation. There were four categories of restrictions that impacted a total of 217 destinations:
16. 45% of destinations (97 countries) implemented full or partial border closures;
17. 30% of destinations (65 countries) have suspended all or part of flights;
18. 18% of destinations (39 countries) forced border closures for a specific group of destinations;
19. 7% of destinations (16 countries) required visitors to quarantine or implement similar measures.
20. Data from Flightradar24 showed that the average number of commercial flights per day increased from more than 100.000 in January and February 2020 to about 78.500 in March and 29.400 drop in April.
21. Although many governments support the airline industry, passenger revenue is estimated to decline by $314 billion in 2020 – a 55% drop from 2019, according to the International Air Transport Association.
22. By 4. May 2020 international flights were down 80% compared to 2019. Many airports have been closed and flights banned due to border closures.
23. IATA, the International Air Transport Association, reported in June 2020 that the corona virus would result in a net loss of $84.3 billion for all airlines, worse than the $30 billion loss in 2008. Revenue is expected to remain negative through 2021.
24. IATA also predicts that airline ticket prices will rise, especially if airlines are required to comply with social distancing measures. According to Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's head of ticket pricing, ticket prices could be.
25. One company that tracked ticket prices during the peak of COVID-19 noted that prices were down through 13. April and 4. May have risen 13.7% and. 10.9% year over year.
Hotels& Lodging sector
Travelers are unlikely to feel comfortable staying in hotels in the near future, meaning low occupancy rates will impact the hospitality industry in the coming years.
26. Since mid-February, hotels in the U.S. have lost more than $46 billion in room revenue, according to AHLA. Based on current occupancy rates and revenue trends, industry expert expects hotels to lose up to $400 million in room revenue per day.
27. In the U.S., AHLA noted that individual hotels and major operators are forecasting occupancies below 20%. For many occupancies, rates of 35% or less make it impossible to stay open – and many accommodations are closing altogether.
28. McKinsey predicts COVID-19 will likely accelerate transition to digital. Travelers will look for flexibility and be willing to make last-minute bookings as the situation develops. Case in point: more than 90% of the most recent trips in China were booked within seven days of the trip itself.
29. The consulting firm also ran a few different scenarios to see how the hotel's RevPAR would be affected:
30. Worst case scenario is RevPAR down 20% by 2023.
31. RevPAR of luxury rooms slowest to recover due to their higher variable and semi-fixed costs.
32. A July 2020 Ipsos poll found that 51% of Americans are willing to stay in a hotel, the same percentage as the previous month. Attitudes toward visiting hotels seem to be improving or staying the same.
33. U.S. travelers have certain expectations of the tourism industry. The University of Florida's Tourism Crisis Management Initiative found that airports, lodging properties and attractions need to take the following initiatives to communicate safety protocols:
34. Airbnb fares no better than traditional accommodations. The platform, which relies on hosts, has seen 64% of guests cancel or plan to cancel their bookings since the pandemic began. Also:
35. 47% of hosts do not feel safe renting to guests
36. 70% of guests are afraid to stay in an Airbnb
37. Hosts expect a 44% drop in revenue from June to August
38. Daily rates have dropped by an average of $90.
39. Hyatt reported a second quarter loss of $236 million, a 376% decline in revenue since the same quarter in 2019. RevPAR was down nearly 90.
Food& Drinks
Many restaurants and bars around the world have had to close due to the corona virus and social distancing measures.
40. In the U.S., reservations at full-service restaurants declined from March – Visits were down 41% across the region Land.
41. Planning tool Homebase has reported that the number The number of hours worked at local restaurants and bars fell by 17. March down by 40%, while the total number of employees fell by 45.
42. Restaurant workers hit hard by the pandemic. The National Restaurant Association reports that two out of three restaurant employees have lost their jobs.
44. The National Restaurant Association expects restaurants The industry will lose as much as $240 billion by the end of 2020.
45. What will it take for restaurants to reopen? According to the James Beard Foundation. Restaurant owners report these are the biggest obstacles to a successful reopening: 41% say customers are slow to return, 35% say they need cash to pay vendors, 16% would need to rehire staff, 3% would need to retrain staff, 2% worry about health inspections.
46. Personal dining may be taboo, but in one survey 33% of consumers said they are getting more takeout than they did before the pandemic.
Tours& Attractions
Historic sites, theme parks, cruises and museums mostly closed this year. This is how the tour and attraction sector developed during COVID-19.
47. UNESCO reported on International Museum Day that nearly 90% of cultural institutions closed during the pandemic; nearly 13% may never reopen.
48. New York's Metropolitan Opera had to close its season by the end of March and expects to lose $60 million in revenue.
49. According to a survey, safari bookings are down 75% or more, putting the tourism industry in countries with need at risk international visitors bad to support their economies.
51. The CDC issued a no-sail order for cruise ships and found in its study that 80% of ships within U.S. jurisdiction had cases of COVID-19 on board from March to July.
53. In March, 77% of members of the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), an organization for travel agents, predicted they would be out of business in six months or less.
54. The Walt Disney Co. Lost nearly $5 billion in April, May and June due to the closure of the Disney World, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris theme parks and the brand's resorts and cruise lines
Business Travel
55. The pandemic has had a major impact on business travel: This sector is expected to 810.7 billion US dollar turnover this year.
56. China expected to see biggest loss in business travel due to COVID-19, where spending is expected to drop by a total of $404.1 billion.
57. Experts estimate that 5-10% of business travel is due in part to remote work tools that enable virtual meetings.
58. Business travel declined 89% as a result of COVID-19, more than the Great Recession and losses from 11. September combined. PwC reports that nearly half of all companies have canceled business travel during this pandemic.