September 27th is World Tourism Day. In the year when the new crown epidemic broke out globally, the tourism industry was hit by an unprecedented impact, and the recovery of the tourism industry has become a topic of concern for the global tourism industry.
On September 24, the World Tourism Organization launched the tourism recovery tracking data. Through the tracking and centralized display of tourism data from all over the world, it provides guidance for the recovery of the tourism industry.
According to the latest "World Tourism Barometer" of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, from January 2020 to June 2020, the number of international tourists worldwide has decreased by 440 million, a year-on-year decrease of 65%, and the export revenue of international tourism has lost approximately US$460 billion. It is about five times the reduction in international tourism revenue in 2009 under the global economic and financial crisis.
The number of international tourists in the first half of the year is year-on-year Source UNWTO website
From the tracking data platform, the decrease in tourists in the Asia-Pacific region is the most obvious, followed by Europe.
The World Tourism Organization stated that although many destinations have gradually opened since the second half of May, the expected increase in the number of international tourists during the peak summer season in the northern hemisphere has not been realized. Europe is the second most affected region in the world. In the first half of 2020, the number of international tourists has dropped by 66% year-on-year. The Americas (-55%), Africa and the Middle East (both -57%) also suffered. However, the region most affected by COVID-19 on the tourism industry is the Asia-Pacific region, where visitors fell by 72% year-on-year in six months.
In terms of subregions, Northeast Asia (-83%) and Southern Mediterranean Europe (-72%) saw the largest declines. From January 2020 to June 2020, the number of arrivals to Hong Kong in all regions and subregions of the world has dropped by more than 50%. Major outbound markets such as the United States and China remained stagnant, while some markets such as France and Germany improved in June.
The World Travel Organization reported that as of early September, 53% of destinations had relaxed travel restrictions. Despite this, many governments remain cautious.
After the crisis, the impact on the number of international tourists and the recovery time. Image source: UNWTO website
Based on the recovery of international tourists from the previous three tourism crises, SARS began to recover from the 5th month, and the number of international tourists recovered 6 months after the 911 incident. The negative impact of the financial crisis lasted for 10 months.
The World Tourism Organization predicts that after the new crown epidemic, it will take roughly two and a half to four years to restore the number of international tourists to the level of 2019.
The average impact of global indicators in the first half of the year. Source: UNWTO website
From the tracking data platform, as of August this year, the average occupancy rate of the global hotel industry was 47%, which has clearly recovered. However, the number of hotel reservations (August) is still less than half of the same period last year. The world's average air ticket booking volume (August) was less than 30% of the same period last year. The negative impact on the short-term rental industry until August has been weak, with bookings only 6% lower than the same period last year.
Year-on-year international passenger traffic in the world's top ten destinations in the first half of the year Source: UNWTO
According to statistics from the World Tourism Organization on the top ten destinations in the world, in the first half of the year, China was the most affected by international tourists (overnight tourists) year-on-year. According to Jiemian News, this is related to the entry and exit policies adopted by China for epidemic prevention and control. The number of international tourists in Mexico has been less affected and affected by the epidemic later. However, in June this year, the number of international tourists was still 75% less than the same period last year. Spain, Thailand, and the United States were greatly affected from April to June.
Hotel occupancy rate data for the world’s top ten destinations this year. Source: UNWTO website
This data on hotel occupancy rates in the world's top ten destinations comes from the hotel industry data company STR. The data shows that among these 10 countries, China has the highest degree of recovery in hotel occupancy rates, and it was the only country where hotel occupancy rates exceeded 60% in August. The reason comes from the recovery of domestic travel and the effectiveness of epidemic prevention and control. Thailand’s hotel sales were still severely affected by the epidemic in August.
Year-on-year bookings for short-term rentals in the world’s top ten destinations. Source: UNWTO website
The data in this table comes from short-term rental data provider and analysis agency AirDNA, and there are global data from short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb. Judging from the table, up to the latest situation in August this year, short-term rental bookings in France and Germany have fallen the least compared to last year. Thailand's influence is still the greatest. The booking volume of China's short-term rental industry has gradually picked up since May year-on-year, which is related to the effectiveness of the epidemic prevention and control and the statutory holidays to stimulate travel.
The quarter-on-quarter data of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world's top ten destinations. Source: UNWTO website
According to statistics from the European Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the above table, from March to August this year, among the top ten destinations in the world, China has the most stable control of the number of confirmed cases of new crown.
On the day of World Tourism Day, UN Secretary-General Guterres stated that in order to get rid of the deep crisis of the epidemic and work hard to achieve recovery, the tourism industry is indispensable to restart.
China's domestic tourism industry has shown a clear recovery. According to the latest quarterly data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on the afternoon of the 27th, in the third quarter of this year, the number of tourists received by A-level tourist attractions across the country reached about 70% of the same period last year, and some local tourist attractions have reached the same level last year. From July to August, all tourist resorts nationwide have been reopened, and the number of receptions and income have recovered to about 90% of last year. From July to August, the number of visits and total income of rural tourism in the country have recovered to more than 90% of the same period of the previous year, and the number of employees basically reached the level of the same period last year. As of mid-September, the national resumption rate of travel agencies has reached 75.72%, and the resumption rate of star hotels has reached 91%. The group travel business and online travel business business have recovered to about 40% in the same period last year.
The theme of this year's World Tourism Day is "Tourism and Rural Development", focusing on the importance of rural development and tourism to residents in rural areas. Shan Gangxin, deputy director of the Resource Development Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has recently launched 300 national rural tourism routes and 1,000 national rural tourism key villages, and trained more than 8,000 rural cadres and tourism poverty alleviation leaders. , To promote smart services for rural tourism and support the infrastructure construction of rural tourism.
