Covid-19 Impact on tourism economy

New strains of Covid-19 and slow vaccination in Europe may impact tourism to Greece, according to a report by Capital Economics.

The recovery of Greece’s tourism industry from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic will be a gradual, slow process, according to Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) President Yiannis Retsos.

The WTTC is urging governments to abandon the concept of ‘high-risk countries’ as it stigmatizes entire nations and also halts travel and mobility.

Greek think-tank IOBE has revised downward its forecast for Greece’s economy and tourism activity in 2021.

Greek hoteliers are hoping that the Easter holiday will bring the first flow of visitors to Greece for 2021.

Despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, tourism experts see positive signs ahead for Greece’s short-term rental market.

Eurocontrol expects air traffic to be down by 55 to 70 percent through to June, impacted by Covid-19 measures.

IATA’s global passenger traffic results for 2020 show that last year “was a catastrophe for demand” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Covid-19 has forced the short-term rental market to re-set its targets and focus on covering lost ground, according to AirDNA analysts.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the consuming behavior of travelers, who are now “hungry” for new trips and tourism experiences, says a Booking.com survey.

Greece is among the Top 5 preferred countries for intra-European travel in 2021, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, according to an ETC report.

Global tourism suffered its worst year on record in 2020, with one billion fewer international arrivals, says the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Greece’s cruise travel sector all but “drowned” in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in a 94% decrease in passengers, according to the Greek Cruise Ship Owners Union.

The number of hotel visitors in the Greek northern city of Thessaloniki was down sharply in 2020, compared to a year earlier, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The WTTC warns that new hotel quarantine measures being considered by the UK government would ‘destroy the Travel & Tourism sector as we know it’.

Travel technology provider Amadeus has revealed five emerging trends expected to drive travel recovery in the post-Covid-19 era.

The WTTC warns that the UK’s latest emergency border measures, taken to prevent the spread of new Covid-19 variants, could be a “crushing blow” to travel.

With tourism heavily impacted in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic, Greece’s revenue from travel receipts dropped to 4.24 billion euros during January-November.

The rising performance Greek tourism was recording up until 2019 was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic, research by INSETE shows.

More than 100 million jobs could return to the global tourism sector in 2021, as the world recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, says the WTTC.