The global tourism industry could shrink
Health officials and government agencies have advised the public not to board cruise ships or take long flights. Major Events such as conferences, tradeshows, and The Olympics were canceled or delayed.
Many businesses in the tourism and travel industry may find themselves at risk.
It’s like trying to predict the economic impact of a coronavirus without knowing the length of the course. A few things are clear.
This study was conducted to provide an overview of the findings.
During the third week in March, we conducted a study with over 2,000 travelers coming from 28 different countries. We asked respondents to provide information about their travel behavior during the pandemic via Amazon Mechanical Turk.
63.8% said they would reduce their travel plans within the next year. Over half of the travelers canceled their business trips immediately because of the coronavirus.
Our study shows that the travel industry (which includes airlines, hotels, and restaurants) will shrink by half in 2020 compared to last. This would result in a loss of revenue and jobs.
The number of international travelers could drop from 1.4 billion to less than 1 billion. This would be the lowest number of international travelers since 2015.
We asked respondents about their perception of China and Italy – two of the worst affected countries by the pandemic. It is interesting to note that the perception of China and Italy among U.S. tourists has declined. China’s image was the most damaged, with some people blaming China for the spread.
We expect this image to recover quickly because research has shown that travelers tend to have a very short memory when it comes to the negative aspects a destination may have after a disaster.
On April 15, a board listing arrivals listed a number of canceled flights at Seattle Tacoma International Airport. AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Impact assessment
The travel industry faced many challenges, such as 9/11 and the Great Recession. However, none were comparable to the coronavirus. The travel industry, for example, shrank by 31,6% after 9/11.
In 2017, the U.S. travel and tourism industry produced US$1.6 trillion of economic output.
According to a study by Tourism Economics, an organization that provides consulting services in the tourism industry, the U.S. Tourism Industry will lose $24 billion by 2020 due to widespread losses in spending in restaurants, hotels, and theme parks.
The World Travel and Tourism Council, which represents the global private Travel and tourism sector, predicts that up to 50 million jobs could be lost in the worldwide travel and tourism industry.
The economic impact of coronavirus will be felt for many years.