2021; The shadow of the corona and the economic crisis on the tourism industry
Tourism as an economic industry plays an important role in the globalization of the productive sectors and in the field of goods and services, and at the same time can bring economic growth to all societies geographically. But in the last two years, with the outbreak of the Corona virus, there have been obstacles and problems in tourism centers and the closure of the entire chain of tourism services around the world.
Businesses in the field of tourism have been shut down in this situation, in other words, the wheel of this employment-generating industry has stopped moving, and many units and activities have been damaged and their employees have lost their jobs, as some tourism and economic activists predict. They had announced the closure of this area by 2021. In fact, the tourism industry was completely shut down with the global outbreak of the coronavirus, and activists in this field were on the verge of bankruptcy, and European countries and some Asian countries suffered the most economic damage. In this regard, the World Tourism Organization for the tourism industry in 2021 chose the slogan “Tourism for Inclusive Growth”, which was associated with the fact that after the revival and prosperity of the tourism industry no country, center or even people in the industry Tourism and tourism are active, they will not fall behind and with the help of the World Tourism Organization, they can get rid of the problems and losses they suffered during the Corona study and the industry can grow all over the world.
Of course, with the development of vaccines in different countries, the World Tourism Organization presented two plans for 2021 that the return of international travel will occur in the second half of this year. The first plan referred to a return in July and a 66% increase in international tourist arrivals for 2021 compared to the lowest level in 2020. The second plan was a possible return in September, which led to a 22% increase compared to 2020, which was 67% less than in 2019.
Damage to the global tourism market in 2021
The Corona virus has left a deep scar on the world economy, causing serious damage to the tourism industry. In this regard, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its reports reported a loss of more than four trillion dollars to the tourism industry. At the beginning of 2021, it stressed that if vaccination was slow, it would have a catastrophic crisis for the economy and the tourism industry. The year 2021 was a boring start for the tourism industry as the average global tourism experienced a recession of 89% compared to the pre-epidemic period. Reflecting on these figures, it can be argued that the indirect effects of this crisis have gone far beyond. North and Southeast Asia, Oceania, North Africa and South Asia suffered the most in the tourism industry.
Lack of control of the corona virus, low inclination and concern for travel and poor economic conditions were among the limitations of tourism. According to its statistics, UNCTAD estimates the decline in global tourism revenue in 2021 at $ 948 billion, which has led to a loss of real GDP of $ 2.4 trillion. With the start of vaccination, international tourism experienced a 37% decrease in countries where the vaccination process was carried out at a high rate, and a 75% decrease in countries with a low rate of vaccination. In this regard, experts believe that by 2023, international tourism will reach pre-Covid 19 levels. It should not be overlooked that the vaccination process was initially very asymmetric in the world, and developing countries suffered greatly in the process, a magnitude of which reduced global GDP by 60%. With the decline of international tourism during the epidemic, the unemployment rate of unskilled workers increased by an average of 5.5 percent and in some countries reached 15 percent. However, tourism destinations continued to report weak revenues in the first seven months of 2021. Iran was also among the countries that suffered a lot of losses, allocating 6.8% of total GDP to the tourism sector this year.
Normalization and slow growth of tourist confidence in 2021
According to the World Tourism Organization, 54 million tourists crossed the international border in July 2021. Nevertheless, 2021 was a challenging year for global tourism. Of course, lowering travel restrictions for vaccinated travelers, along with increasing Covid 19 vaccination, helped boost tourist confidence and gradually restore safe travel in Europe and elsewhere. Tourism experts and economic activists estimate that tourism conditions will be normal in most parts of the world by 2023 and 2024. They believe that by 2022, the Middle East in general will return to pre-Corona conditions in the field of tourism. Although tourist destinations in Asia remain closed to unnecessary travel, news of the Corona vaccine has led to the fastest growth in global GDP in more than 40 years, at 5.2 percent for 2021.
“There is clearly a great demand for international tourism, and many destinations have welcomed visitors safely and responsibly,” said Zurab Polulikashvili, secretary general of the World Tourism Organization. “However, the real resumption of tourism and its benefits is still stalled because inconsistent rules and regulations and unbalanced vaccination rates in different areas continue to affect people’s self-confidence in travel.”
The dramatic change in the type of air travel in the form of land and personal travel in 2021 was one of the things that attracted the attention of experts in this field. Restoring tourists’ confidence in traveling to safe, close and familiar areas such as domestic and short trips by road and rail was one of the events that took place this year and the airlines were less welcomed due to long-term restrictions. Estimates suggest that the return of international business and trade will reach pre-crisis levels in 2025, which will occur for leisure travel in 2023.
Top trends in the tourism industry in 2021
Given that the corona outbreak had a major impact on the global tourism industry, activists in the field, after some confusion, took steps to find effective solutions to revive tourism. Due to the development of technologies in the field of digital, tour operators decided to make it possible for a tourist who intends to travel to a place to easily book their travel ticket and accommodation, and using the technology online to their desired destination. To view. Another top trend of 2021 was the optimal use of mobile phones. Communication from the compass to online booking of tickets and accommodation and even currency exchange programs can be done by mobile, and foreign tourists can even travel using language translation programs easily and without the help of a translator. Smartphones have helped tourists a lot and they have been able to add their information to Google from the places they have visited. Qutb Tourism was introduced as one of the top and most attractive tourism trends in 2021, in which tour operators in 2021 organized various programs to travel to Qutb. Space tourism in the category of top trends, tourism or black tourism in the trends of 2021 in which the audience is surprised at every moment. Destinations such as battlefields are among the attractive places for black tourism. Voluntary tourism, luxury tourism and culinary tourism are among the top trends of 2021.
Prospects for the future of the tourism industry
According to the latest World Tourism Organization poll, most tourism activists still expect demand for international travel to increase in the second and third quarters in 2022, but all experts still believe that international tourism will return to 2019 levels in 2024 or later. While 43% point to an improvement in 2023. In the current situation and in the days of Corona, with the decrease in the number of people infected with this virus, the situation of the tourism industry has slightly improved, but it is not satisfactory. Many countries have taken steps to encourage tourists to travel to attract tourists again. In the future, with the distribution and injection of the Corona vaccine all over the world, it is hoped that the tourism industry will make significant progress and that the situation of tourist travel will improve day by day. Recent information about the discovery of the vaccine has led to a build-up of trust in the global community, providing a more balanced outlook than previous estimates and strengthening the likelihood of better performance on future voyages with climbing potential. The effects of corona on economic income and employment in the tourism market can also affect the cost-effectiveness of travel. Due to the negative effects on income and employment due to the recession, especially for long trips, domestic tourism is likely to flourish because tourists choose travel options with lower costs.
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