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The UK Might Lose Billions Because of Travel Bans

Tourism has always been an important source of income for the UK. Hotels in London used to have exceptionally high occupancy and revenue levels. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has put the travel & tourism industry on the verge of distraction. According to the forecast of WTTC (World Travel and Tourism Council), almost 197 million people worldwide who work in tourism might become jobless. In the UK alone, as many as three million jobs might disappear because of the pandemic.

If countries do not lift their travel restrictions and demand quarantine measures for all arriving passengers, the “worst-case scenario” might happen. While some countries make efforts to lift restrictions and try to rejuvenate their economies, countries like the UK come out with new rules and bans.

As there are currently no coordinated efforts in testing and no unified safety standards, it is hard to help the industry. Travel bans and quarantines make it clear that the peak summer 2020 season is already lost. Some countries continue their efforts to limit travel, making strange and unexpected decisions. For example, the UK government published a strange directive – to oblige travelers returning to the UK from Spain to spend 14 days in quarantine. Needless to say, this decision wasn’t welcome in Spain. It also left many UK travelers shocked and angry because they didn’t know anything about the quarantine.

The situation is somewhat strange taking into consideration that the COVID-19 infection rate in such regions of Spain as the Balearics, Andalucia, and the Canaries is lower than in the UK. If the country continues its quarantine policy, the UK is close to losing US$186 billion. This is how much the Travel & Tourism sector contributes to the UK’s GDP. The estimated drop is 73% compared with the last year.

Millions of people around the world will lose their jobs and won’t be able to support their families because of closed borders. WTTC insists that countries should work together to create new safety and hygiene standards. Before the pandemic, 300 million people worldwide were working in the sector. Now, these people are about to face mass unemployment. Moreover, Travel & Tourism was one of the major boosters of economic growth for many countries. In general, each one in four new jobs in the world was related to tourism, so a recession in the industry and easily turn into the global recession.

07.08.2020

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