The contribution that the UK travel sector makes to the country’s GDP fell by 62.5% in 2020 compared with the previous year – well above the global average of a 49.1% year-on-year drop.
This slump in tourism means that the UK has fallen from being the fifth largest global travel markets in 2019 to eighth place last year, according to WTTC’s 2021 Economic Impact Report.
WTTC president and chief executive Gloria Guevara said the UK’s steeper decline was “due to the damaging and ineffective quarantines and unhelpful continuing travel restrictions”.
“With positive news from across Europe about the gradual reopening of borders we hope to see many more countries adopt a more risk-based approach,” added Guevara.
“This will restore mobility safely through rapid testing and health and hygiene protocols to support the vaccination rollout.
“The urgent need to restore international travel is starkly evident following the release of WTTC’s data which shows the global travel and tourism sector suffered disproportionately hard due to the pandemic.”
In comparison, the overall worldwide economy only shrank by 3.7% last year - illustrating the “dramatic reduction” in the contribution of travel and tourism to GDP during 2020.
The US continued to be the number one tourism market despite a 41% fall in GDP contribution, followed by China which maintained second position despite a 59.9% year-on-year drop.
Major European destinations also suffered huge falls in tourism: Germany was down 46.9%, Italy by 51% and France by 48.8%.
“As vaccine rollouts continue at pace and international travel gradually resumes, travel and tourism will again become a priority for governments around the world,” added Guevara.
“Countries such as the UK, US and Israel have made great strides with vaccination programmes, inoculating more than half of their populations, showing there is reason to be optimistic about the future.
“But now is not the time to take our foot off the pedal; we have to press for travel to resume faster to recover the 62 million jobs lost last year and the many millions more which continue to hang in the balance.”
She added that rapid resting, mask wearing and enhanced health and hygiene measures to complement the vaccine rollout would be needed to achieve a successful recovery in travel and tourism.
The global travel sector suffered losses of $4.5 trillion in 2020 with nearly 62 million jobs lost, estimated the WTTC.
