The Banking Executive Magazine - March 2021

Travel Tourism 62MLN LOST JOBS IN TRAVEL, TOURISM COULD RETURN IN 2022: WTTC Millions of employees who lost their jobs in the travel and tourism sector last year may be rehired or find new employment in 2022, when busi- nesses recover from the COVID-19 impact, according to a new analysis. The forecast is contingent on the continued massive rollout of coron- avirus vaccines and the resumption of international mobility and travel by the summer of 2021, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). As the pandemic wreak havoc on travel and tourism, more than 62 mil- lion jobs were lost around the world last year, representing a drop of 18.5 percent and leaving just 272 million people employed across the industry. The job losses were felt across the in- dustry, with small and medium enter- prises (SMEs), which make up 80 percent of all businesses in the sec- tor, particularly affected. “If the global vaccine rollout contin- ues at pace, and travel restrictions are relaxed just before the busy sum- mer season, the 62 million jobs lost in 2020 could return by 2022,” WTTC said. TRAVEL, TOURISM The travel and tourism industry is one of the major contributors of eco- nomic growth. Prior to the health outbreak in 2019, the sector gener- ated one in four of all new jobs around the world, accounting for 10.6 percent (334 million) of total employment. It also contributed $9.2 trillion to the global GDP. When COVID-19 hit, international visitor arrivals plummeted, as con- sumers put off travel plans for fear of contracting the virus. International and domestic travel spending fell by 69.4 percent and 45 percent, respec- tively. Its contribution to global GDP also plummeted by nearly half to $4.7 trillion. In the UAE, thousands of jobs in the travel and tourism sector were also lost, with airlines among those who were forced to furlough staff or resort to redundancies. Euromonitor International has esti- mated that spending by tourists worldwide could return to pre-crisis levels also by 2022, as long as mass vaccinations and testing will enable travel to resume safely. the BANKING EXECUTIVE 14 ISSUE 147 MARCH 2021