The Covid-19 pandemic has caused some serious changes to the way things work. It will take a while to get everything back on track. Travel and tourism is a massive industry across nations and many countries primarily depend on it. And for others, even if it is not a primary source of revenue, Travel and tourism contribute massively to their annual GDP.
In this article, we will be focussing on how the recent pandemic has affected the global travel and tourism scenario, its current state and some travel precautions to take.
Travel and Tourism is a massive industry around the world and it has generated around 8.8 trillion USD. This number equates to about 10.4% of the global GDP. It gives us a clear idea about its significance and how it has been affected in recent years under lockdown. For instance, the number has drastically decreased by more than 50% and impacted the Global GDP massively.
How was Travel and Tourism affected by the COVID pandemic?
The covid-19 pandemic caused such a global pandemic situated dating back to late 2019. Since then, the whole world, its different aspects and people around have been affected both directly and indirectly.
The pandemic was very lethal and took millions of lives across the nation. This caused the whole world to be under a state of panic and with the unavailability of any quick vaccine, the world was forced to make a stop. Several rules and regulations were made including social distancing and travel restrictions. But even that was not enough to, so many countries had to be under the state of multiple lockdowns ranging for a varying period.
People had to give up traveling and going out of their house as much as possible. Countries also put restrictions on flights, cruises, and other kinds of travel so that no one can leave or enter the country. This was all necessary to regulate the spread of the virus.
This state of lockdown and international and local travel restrictions put a heavy toll on the tourism and travel sectors of the world. Tourist spots and other popular places that were dependent primarily on tourism have seen no business at all. According to UNWTO, international tourists’ arrival fell by 72% from January to October of 2020 itself. This translated into a total of 935 billion USD of loss in just export revenues.
During the time frame from January to October of 2020, Asia and Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and Europe & America faced an 82%, 73%, 69% and 68% decline, respectively.
Current State of Travel and Tourism
The global pandemic scenario is at a much more stable point as of late 2021 than that of last year. However, the UNWTO Confidence Index remains at record lows. The local and international travel and tourism aspect has started to resume into motion as of 2021. But the popular belief is that the conditions will not be at a pre-pandemic level until 2023-25.
Should you travel now?
Even though many countries have taken up a more flexible approach and resumed tourism and travel, many others think the opposite. As for the question of whether you should travel now or not, the answer is a no.
The reason for it is because the Covid problem is still far from over and traveling in this scenario can be very dangerous. It is best to avoid going on a trip or visiting somewhere off, be that local or international. This will keep you a bit safer in today’s time.
Precautions to take when traveling in the current scenario
See, staying at home and doing a job is not as simple as it sounds. Many people have to go someplace important even at times like this and it is understandable. So, in case you have to travel during these times and if your government and local conditions allow it, be sure to take these precautions.
- Have a complete dosage of Vaccine shots, otherwise, avoid travelling.
- Carry reusable masks with you and wear them at all times in public.
- Carry and use a sanitiser at all times.
- Avoid visiting places that have active cases of covid-19.
- Stay as clean as possible and maintain self-hygiene.
- Avoid close contact with other people.
By following this simple set of rules, you will be all good to go. To be fair, if you are from the region where covid cases have settled and the majority of the vaccination process has been done then traveling locally is not a bad idea. Of course, only if your local government allows it then only.
This year is nearly over as we slowly head towards 2022. Expect the pandemic to have a great fall by then, at least optimistically. This will enable much safer travel in various different regions. Be safe and travel wisely and possibly only when you need to.
