Page 39 - August 2020

SPECIAL FEATURE: TOURISM & RETAIL INVESTMENT

By regions, Asia Pacific, the first region to suffer the
impact of the pandemic, saw a 60 per cent decrease in
arrivals in January-May 2020. Europe recorded the second
strongest decline with 58 per cent fewer arrivals, followed
by the Middle East with a 51 per cent decline, then the
Americas and Africa both 47 per cent decline.
At the sub-regional level, Southern-Mediterranean
Europe with a 66 per cent drop and North-East Asia
region with a 65 per cent decline suffered the largest
drop. Arrivals in South-East Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean,
Northern Europe, Western Europe, Central and Eastern
Europe were down 50 per cent or more.
The UNWTO update continues, saying that Tourism
is showing signs of a gradual but still cautious change
in trend in the Northern Hemisphere peak summer
season, particularly in Europe. As of 15 June 2020, 22
per cent of all destinations worldwide (48 destinations
including seven Small Island Developing States) had
started to ease restrictions, with Europe leading the
way. However, most destinations worldwide continued
THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON THE INDUSTRY of the Covid-19 on international tourism. For its initial to have their borders completely closed to international
For The effect of the Covid-19 outbreak has had assessment, UNWTO takes the SARS scenario of 2003 as tourism. The Canada-US-Mexico border, one of the
a massive impact on the travel industry. Globally, the a benchmark, factoring in the size and dynamics of global busiest borders in the world, has remained closed to
pandemic has grounded major airline services and as travel and current disruptions, the geographic spread of non-essential travel since March. The closure has been
people were advised to stay home to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and its potential economic impact. extended at least until 21 August.
the virus, the lack of passengers’ demand of air travel also In its ‘World Tourism Barometer: Volume 18 – Issue However, the outlook is still highly uncertain as new
hit the industry. According to a report, nearly 90 per cent 4 – July 2020 Update, the UNWTO revealed that the cases of Covid-19 continue to be reported worldwide.
of the world’s population now lives in countries with travel pandemic has caused an unprecedented level of disruption Some countries have returned to partial lockdowns and
restrictions. However, the outbreak also caused several to travel and tourism, which is reflected in the collapse of curfews, and borders remain closed in the majority of
jobs at risk as airlines, travel companies and the tourism global travel since mid-March. International tourist arrivals countries, all in a context of deep economic recession
sector as a whole are among the most affected businesses. (overnight visitors) saw a decrease of 56 per cent in the in 2020.
For now, the effects of the coronavirus on the tourism first five months of 2020 over the same period of last year,
industry have been monumental. Global passenger according to data reported so far by destinations. SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
traffic is expected to see a decrease of 4.6 billion In the month of May international arrivals were down According to a World Travel and Tourism Council report,
travellers in 2020. While the loss in total global airport an unprecedented 98 per cent, reflecting widespread travel figures emerge that the Covid-19 pandemic could affect 50
revenue is a quite staggering amount, set to come in at restrictions in nearly all destinations worldwide, amid million jobs worldwide in the travel and tourism industry,
$97bn, according to trade association Airports Council measures to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. but it is not all doom and gloom for the sector.
International (ACI) world. This followed an already massive 97 per cent drop in Industry experts now believe that the use of digital
Research from the ‘Tourism and Covid-19’ report from international tourist arrivals in the month of April. technologies such as digital identity and biometrics
the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) shows that All world regions and sub-regions saw a decrease in technologies could ensure a seamless journey during and
the tourism sector has been one of the hardest-hit by international arrivals in May for the second consecutive post-pandemic scenario. However, these tools will only
the outbreak of Covid-19, with impacts on both travel month, in the range of 90 per cent to 100 per cent. The be effective if users’ data is protected, privacy, consent
supply and demand. Considering the evolving nature of decline amounts to 120 million fewer international arrivals and transparent data governance must be in place while
the situation, it is too early to estimate the full impact in May, after a drop of 113 million in April. leveraging any technical solution.
There are several travel tech companies and start-
#ONLY YOU ups providing effective solutions to assist travellers amid
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the crisis. For instance, WishTrip, a SaaS-based tourism
experience management platform, is helping its clients
through this difficult time. The company’s customer success
team went to work thinking of new and revolutionary ways
to support destinations stay connected with their visitors
and potential visitors, create income during shutdown and
plan for the future.
Because of Covid-19, new innovations in travel technology
are appearing as the clamour for people wanting to travel
again only increases. To this end, PriestmanGoode have
designed a new concept for aircraft cabin interiors that
features dirt trap-free surfaces and “colour psychology” to
alleviate passenger anxiety. The project, called Pure Skies,
saw the London studio redesign business-and economy-
class cabins to be “future-proof” against potential new
pandemics. Colour-changing ink on the seat fabric could
inform passengers that the cabin has just been cleaned, and
unhygienic elements such as pockets would be removed
from seatbacks.

AUGUST 2020 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL 39