Experts say vaccination, easing of border restrictions key to tourism reboud

by Marlon Madden

While world travel experts are reporting signs of recovery to international travel, most of them are predicting that it will not return to 2019 levels before another two years or later.

According to the latest World Tourism Barometer of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the rebound in tourism was being driven mainly by vaccination against the COVID-19 virus
and the removal of border restrictions.

Pointing out that confidence in travel was slowly rising, the document said this improvement was underpinned by the reopening of many destinations to international travel, mostly in Europe and the Americas.

It said: “The relaxation of travel restrictions for vaccinated travellers, coupled with progress made in the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, contributed to lifting consumer confidence”.

Respondents cited several factors that would continue to drive a rebound in international travel including rapid and widespread vaccination roll-out, major lifting of travel restrictions, action among countries on travel protocols, clear information about health protocols and entry requirements, use of digital tools to enhance safe mobility and affordable coronavirus testing.

The report said since the global shutdown of the industry in April last year, most destinations witnessed their best tourism season around June/July of this year. The research estimated that around 54 million tourists crossed international borders in July 2021, down 67 per cent from the same month in 2019, but the strongest results since April 2020.

“This compares to an estimated 34 million international arrivals recorded in July 2020, though well below the 164 million figure recorded in 2019,” it said. “Most destinations reporting data for June and July 2021 saw a moderate rebound in international arrivals compared to 2020.

Nevertheless, 2021 continues to be a challenging year for global tourism, with international arrivals down 80 per cent in January to July, compared to 2019,” it added. Giving a breakdown of the results for the January to July period this year, the report noted that Asia and the Pacific suffered the weakest performance, with a 95 per cent drop in international arrivals compared to 2019.

The Middle East witnessed an 82 per cent decline, followed by Europe and Africa, which both saw a decrease of 77 per cent in international travel. “The Americas saw a comparatively smaller decrease (-68 per cent), with the Caribbean showing the best performance among world sub-regions,” the report stated.

“Some small islands in the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia and the Pacific, together with a few small European destinations recorded the best performance in June and July, with arrivals close to, or sometimes exceeding
pre-pandemic levels,” it pointed out.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “There is clearly a strong demand for international tourism, and many destinations have started welcoming visitors back safely and responsibly.

However, the true restart of tourism and the benefits it brings, remain on hold as inconsistent rules and regulations and uneven vaccination rates continue to affect confidence in travel”.

This comes as tourism officials in Bridgetown push for vaccination of workers in the sector, insisting that the accommodation sector was suffering from high levels of cancellations as travellers insist on only staying at properties where all employees are vaccinated.

With the usually busy winter tourist season set to begin around the middle of December, the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) has urged Government to support a call for all employees in the sector to take the COVID-19 jab by December 1.

“The BHTA is of the view that unless immediate action is taken, there will be a collapse of the tourism sector that employs directly 16,000 persons and many thousands more in supporting services,” it said in a recent notice.

According to the latest UNWTO experts in the research, the prospects for September to December 2021 remained “mixed”, with 53 per cent of respondents believing the period will be worse than expected and 31 per cent expecting better results towards the end of the year.

“The survey also shows that most tourism professionals continue to expect a rebound driven by unleashed pent-up demand for international travel in 2022, mostly during the second and third quarters,” it added.

Almost half of all experts (45 per cent) continue to see international tourism returning to 2019 levels in 2024 or later, while 43 per cent point to a recovery in 2023. For the Americas, some 56 per cent of the experts believe international tourism will return to 2019 levels in 2024 or later.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb