Covid-19 Impact on tourism economy

The outbreak of Covid-19 has impacted Greece’s small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) as much as the economic crisis in 2009, says the National Bank of Greece.

Flight restrictions and government travel policies, including Covid-19 testing and quarantine measures, are affecting travel trends, according to an analysis by ForwardKeys.

The Lufthansa Group recorded losses of 1.5 billion euros in the second quarter of the year, due to the collapse in demand for air travel caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hellenic Hoteliers Federation President Grigoris Tasios has painted a gloomy picture for Greece’s hospitality sector, which has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nearly three million tourism jobs in the UK look set to be lost due to barriers to global travel, such as quarantine measures and other restrictions, the WTTC says.

An INSETE study reveals the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Greece’s source markets and the rollover effect on tourism.

Over 95% of the international events scheduled to take place in Greece in 2020 have been canceled or postponed due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Forty percent of all destinations worldwide have now eased the travel restrictions they placed on international tourism in response to Covid-19.

Travel giant TUI has announced that it will close 166 high street stores in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Global passenger traffic is expected to return to 2019 levels in 2024, a year later than previously projected, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Travel restrictions and border shutdowns imposed in response to Covid-19 led to a 56% year-on-year drop in tourist arrivals between January and May.

Almost a month after Greece reopened to tourism, hotels in the country are seeing sluggish demand and are unsure of what will happen in August.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the willingness of Greek consumers to travel, as 44 percent say they will not go on vacation this summer.

MICE tourism has been hit hard by the global spread of Covid-19 and could be one of the last sectors to return to normality, says GlobalData.

The Greek economy is set to suffer another setback once the government’s Covid-19 lifeline to businesses stops, according to Capital Economics.

Despite its swift and effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Greece must bolster its economy with added measures, according to the OECD.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is warning governments around the world that further country-wide border closures could seriously jeopardize global economic recovery.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, Greece’s travel receipts in May plummeted by 99.2% to 13 million euros from 1.56 billion euros during the same month last year.

Greek airports saw a 75 percent drop in passenger numbers during the first six months of this year, compared to the same period in 2019.

Covid-19 is expected to lead to a 20% reduction in Greece’s tourism revenue this year, compared to 18-19 billion euros in 2019, says IOBE.