Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary general of the UNITED Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), has urged member states to increase pressure on world leaders to take decisive action to safeguard the millions of jobs under threat as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNWTO said in press release on Friday. 

“The World Tourism Organization is taking the lead in ensuring governments do all they can to safeguard livelihoods and shield the most vulnerable members of society,” Pololikashvili said, addressing the third meeting of the Global Tourism Crisis Committee held earlier this month.

UNWTO has also announced that it aims to address the Tourism Ministers of the G20 countries as part of an immediate response to the challenges facing the travel and tourism sector as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and accelerate the recovery.

New research from UNWTO has found that 96% of all worldwide destinations have introduced travel restrictions since January 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report also looked at the level of travel restrictions from country-to-country.

The UNWTO has invited potential travelers to submit videos on how they think that the tourism sector will change after the COVID-19.

The Organization expects that international tourist arrivals will be down by 20% to 30% in 2020 when compared with 2019 figures. This could translate into a decline in international tourism receipts (exports) of between $300-450 billion, almost one third of the $ 1.5 trillion generated in 2019.

AFM/MG