Two years later, COVID-19 lockdowns severely impacted the travel and tourism (T&T) industry, and the picture looked very different. It caused a decline in living standards and the well-being of communities all over the world, resulting in losses of $4.5 trillion and the loss of 62 million jobs in 2020 alone. Although the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines and the lifting of restrictions have signaled the beginning of a recovery, it has been slow and uneven due, in part, to variations in vaccine distribution and Omicron and its BA.2 subvariant. And customers are not only being more cautious when it comes to health, but also around the impact of travel on the environment and local communities.
International tourist arrivals rose by 18 million in January 2022 compared with a year earlier. This equals the increase for the whole of 2021 from 2020, but January’s numbers were still 67% below the same month in 2019, according to the UNWTO.
The conflict in Ukraine has exacerbated the sector’s instability and caused economic disruption. In light of this, the World Economic Forum’s inaugural Travel and Tourism Development Index highlights the expanding significance of sustainability and resilience to T&T growth and the sector’s contribution to overall economic and social development.