According to Ehab Abdel Aala, treasurer of the Cultural Tourism Association, the expected losses of Egypt’s tourism sector in 2020 will be from 12 to 13 billion dollars.
In an interview with the Daily News Egypt, Abdel Aal said that although there was no official statement from the Egyptian government about the size of the losses, this can be expected in the near future.
“Egypt’s tourism revenue was $ 16 billion a year, but in 2020 Egypt reached only $ 2.5 billion in January and February,” he said. “Thus, the expected loss is between 12 and 13 billion dollars.”
It is noteworthy that the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in its latest report showed that the global travel and tourism sector suffered losses of $ 4.5 trillion during 2020 due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus (COVID-19).
The global travel and tourism sector suffered losses of $ 4.5 trillion in 2020 due to COVID-19: WTTC
The data was published in its annual Economic Impact Report (EIR) on Monday, which outlines the full devastating impact of the pandemic on the global travel and tourism sector in 2020.
The annual EIR examines the global private travel and tourism sector and shows its contribution to GDP. It showed a fall of a staggering 49.1% compared to the global economy as a whole, which fell by only 3.7% last year.
Huge losses occurred during 2020, giving the first complete picture of how the sector is trying to survive in the face of severe travel and quarantine restrictions. They continue to threaten the immediate recovery of the world economy.
Overall, the sector’s contribution to world GDP fell to $ 4.7 trillion in 2020, representing 5.5% of the world economy, from almost $ 9.2 trillion, or 10.4%, the previous year.
2020 – the beginning of 2021 was devastating for travel and tourism: millions of people around the world found themselves in isolation.
However, the WTTC study shows that international mobility and travel will resume by June 2021, which will significantly increase the global and national level of GDP, as well as jobs.
According to the study, the sector’s contribution to world GDP may increase sharply this year, increasing by 48.5% compared to the same period last year. The study also shows that its contribution may almost reach the level of 2019 in 2022 with a further increase compared to the same period last year by 25.3%.
The WTTC also predicts that if global vaccine deployment continues at this pace and travel restrictions are eased just before the busy summer season, the 62 million jobs lost in 2020 could return by 2022.