The outbreak of COVID-19 had hit countries around the globe at different times and in various degrees but the response to curb the disease forced national lockdowns to travel restrictions and shutdown of borders that made tourism one of the hardest-hit sectors. The international tourist arrivals during 2020 declined between 58% and 78%, with 100 to 120 million direct tourism jobs at risk.
In the new normal, the world’s tourism turns to domestic travel. As part of travel normalization, travelers preferred mostly destinations closer to their home with international travel still having restrictions as a consequence of the pandemic. Countries with higher domestic tourism shares have the chance for faster recovery going forward and all countries are in the mode of promoting domestic tourism.
India, China, and the United States of America are the world’s largest domestic tourism markets in terms of tourist trips. According to the statistics in most large destinations, domestic tourism expenditure is indicated to be higher than inbound spending. Tourism expenditure makes a significant contribution to the economy and is, therefore, a key component of tourism. Globally, Domestic tourism is six times bigger than international tourism (1.4 billion international arrivals in 2018) usually measured in the number of tourist trips.
The initiatives implemented in this recovery period to promote domestic travel and restore confidence will play a key role in the future of the Tourism sector. Building trust and confidence among travelers, workers, and host communities is the first step through implementing health, hygiene, and safety protocols.
As a service trade, tourism can have multi-faceted effects that transcend and impact other sectors throughout the socio-economic spectrum which may further impact the recovery plan and its capacity to create jobs and transform societies. Making a fertile environment for entrepreneurship, maximizing efficient technologies, diversifying markets and products are some measures for a sustainable recovery of the sector.
In the current scenario, the importance of public-private partnerships should also be reinforced. Many countries have already started marketing and promotion campaigns that encourage citizens to travel to nearby destinations within the country for weekend trips to revive the regional tourism industry. This encourages domestic demand and helps recover confidence in the sector. Tourism authorities are focusing on promoting rural, natural, less-known destinations while making sure to not neglect popular destinations entirely.
Fiscal and monetary measures have been implemented by many governments to ease the financial burden of entrepreneurs. Re-opening policies and recovery plans should be effective and should prefer people first, while also making sure to be in accordance with the latest science and epidemiological safety practices with partnerships and coordination for a safe restart which can hopefully accelerate recovery to revive hope for millions of people around the world.