COVID 19 and TOURISM

A high percentage of touristic places and destinations are currently completely closed to international tourism around the world due to Covid-19. With regards to the latest information obtained from the World Tourism Organization, the majority of governments did not attempt to further loosen restrictions on travelling or tourism and conversely closed doors for especially Asia as well as the Pacific and Europe as a consequence of certain new Covid-19 mutations and variants.

‘‘As of the beginning of February, 32% of all destinations worldwide (69 in total) are completely closed for international tourism. Of these, around just over half (38 destinations) have been closed for at least 40 weeks. At the same time, 34% of worldwide destinations are now partially closed to international tourists.’’ (UNWTO)

Countries that chose to inhibit entrance and entirely close borders last year were mainly those of emerging economies with relatively low scores in the health and hygiene standards and environmental performance. Suprisingly, this year in 2021 the countries with high economic growth and improved health, hygiene, environmental performance increased restrictions on entering borders and closed doors. This might be the cause of Europe’s travel limitations and strict Covid-19 precautions in the beginning of 2021.

Moreover, recently there have also been international lockdowns where the Schengen countries mutually prevented entrance to the country for tourism purposes and temporarily closed touristic visa applications. As a result, the tourism is temporarily suspended by a majority. Currently, most destinations with closed borders are in Asia and the Pacific whereas the U.S. and Africa are the regions with less strict border enterance related to Covid-19.