(MENAFN- Gulf Times)

Beyond the Tarmac

Travel and tourism industry's contribution to global GDP could return to pre-pandemic levels this year and millions of jobs be recovered if governments continue to remove restrictions to travel around the world.
A new research by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed the global travel and tourism industry's contribution to the global economy could reach $8.6tn in 2022, just 6.4% behind pre-pandemic levels.
In 2019, before the pandemic stopped travel on its tracks, the travel and tourism sector generated nearly $9.2tn to the global economy.
However, in 2020, the pandemic brought the sector to an almost complete standstill, causing a massive 49.1% drop, representing a severe loss of nearly $4.5tn.
Latest WTTC research shows that as the world finally begins to recover from pandemic, the sector's contribution to both the global economy and employment could reach almost pre-pandemic levels this year.
The global tourism body says that if the vaccine and booster rollout continue at pace this year, and restrictions to international travel are eased around the world throughout the year - the sector could create 58mn jobs in 2022, to reach more than 330mn, just 1% below pre-pandemic levels and up 21.5% up on 2020.
In 2019, travel and tourism generated 10.4% of global GDP and more than 330mn jobs. To reach close to pre-pandemic levels this year, WTTC says governments around the world must continue focussing on the vaccine and booster rollout - allowing fully vaccinated travellers to move freely without the need for testing.
The global tourism body urged governments to drop the patchwork of restrictions and enable international travel using digital solutions that allow travellers to prove their status in a fast, simple and secure way.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said:“Over the past two years, the global travel and tourism sector has suffered tremendous losses.
“2022 is poised for a strong recovery if governments continue to open up and remove restrictions to travel. Our sector could recover more than 58mn jobs and generate $8.6tn, which would boost economic recovery around the world.
“As people start travelling again, governments must implement simplified rules, including the use of digital solutions. Travel of the future should be contactless while guaranteeing safety.”
The call to loosen pandemic-induced travel restrictions and the actual relaxation of measures comes as health experts across the world have determined that, while the now-dominant Omicron variant is highly contagious, it is causing lower rates of severe disease, especially among people vaccinated and boosted.
“If the coronavirus becomes endemic, it would be a permanent fixture of our lives, like the seasonal flu. But that would not necessarily mean it is no longer dangerous,” according to The New York Times.
“Endemic malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people,” said Michael Ryan, the emergencies director for the World Health Organisation last month, addressing questions about vaccine equity at the World Economic Forum.“Endemic in itself does not mean good — endemic just means it's here forever.”
And in countries with low vaccination rates and high caseloads, the situation is not the same, The New York Times noted. Coronavirus measures have been reinstated in parts of North and West Africa where infections have surged in recent weeks. Only about 10% of the African continent's population has been fully vaccinated.
And many Asian nations — even those with high vaccination rates — remain largely closed for leisure travellers. Other countries that recently reopened, like Thailand and Vietnam, still have restrictions in place.
The global body of airlines — International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently called upon governments to accelerate relaxation of travel restrictions as Covid-19 continues to evolve from the pandemic to endemic stage.
IATA called for removing all travel barriers (including quarantine and testing) for those fully vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine, enabling quarantine-free travel for non-vaccinated travellers with a negative pre-departure antigen test result, removing travel bans, and accelerating the easing of travel restrictions in recognition that travellers pose no greater risk for Covid-19 spread than already exists in the general population.
“After more than two years with Covid-19 we know a lot about the virus and the inability of travel restrictions to control its spread. But the discovery of the Omicron variant induced instant amnesia on governments which implemented knee-jerk restrictions in complete contravention of advice from the WHO — the global expert,” said Willie Walsh, IATA's Director General.
Certainly, blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread, and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods. In addition, they can adversely impact global health efforts during a pandemic by disincentivising countries to report and share epidemiological and sequencing data.
Experts, therefore say, all countries must ensure that the measures are regularly reviewed and updated when new evidence becomes available on the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of Omicron or any other variants of concern.
The countries should also follow World Health Organisation (WHO) advice and rescind travel bans that were introduced in response to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Pratap John is Business Editor at Gulf Times. Twitter handle: @PratapJohn

MENAFN09022022000067011011ID1103667852