The impact of COVID-19 on global tourism industries
The tourism industry incorporates many industries, including transportation, accommodation, travel companies, food and drink services, and more. All of these industries were impacted in some way by the pandemic. When it came to transportation, airlines saw an unprecedented drop in passengers due to travel bans and customer uncertainty. Meanwhile, hotel occupancy rates dropped across all regions worldwide in the first few months of 2020. In April of that year, the hotel occupancy rate in Europe saw the most dramatic effects of the virus, with occupancy rates falling to just 11 percent. Even the monthly change in short-term rental bookings made through travel companies such as AirBnb and Booking experienced record lows as late as December 2020. Affected not only by a loss of tourism but also local customers, the restaurant industry was hit hard too. In March 2020, the number of sit-down diners worldwide plummeted, a figure…
