Economic Impacts of COVID-19 on Tourism - Assignment Example

Economic Impacts of COVID-19 on Tourism

The present COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant strain on different sectors. There are sectors that have had to scale down their operations because of the lack of sufficient workers in their sectors to aid in the production processes, while others have been negatively affected by the restrictions and regulations placed by governance institutions. Tourism is one such sector that has had to experience significant economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Depending on the dependency of a region on either local or foreign or both local and foreign types of tourism, the extent of the economic impact on independent countries vary. However, the overall effect on global tourism can be explained by several factors. The subsequent sections of this paper highlights in detail some of the factors that have been brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which have had significant economic impacts on the tourism sector.

Globally, countries have restricted entry to their air space to limit the spread of COVID-19 from countries that have increased cases of virus infections. The foreign entry restrictions placed by countries mean that tourists are unable to access some of the tourist sites in those countries. Most countries depend on foreign tourists in their tourism sectors because of the high-spending nature of such tourists. Foreign tourists, especially from developed countries, often have a considerable amount of money to spend during their holidays, and the nature of their spending is exorbitant. This boosts the rate of sales that restaurants in tourism destinations receive, hence boosting the economic impact of the tourism sector. However, where there are restrictions placed on the entry of foreigners to a country, the net effect is that there are no foreign tourists in those countries, leading to reduced sales for businesses that are focused on benefiting from foreign tourists.

The other economic impact that COVID-19 has had on tourism is the restrictions on movement in most countries. In the United States, for example, there were certain restrictions that were placed that hindered the movement of people across States. There are several States in the United States that have beaches and wildlife sanctuaries that attract tourists to those States. Where there is a restriction on the movement of people across States, such tourism attraction destinations have fewer people who visit them. This means that the revenue that is generated by those tourist attraction sites reduces as well. Even though there are several areas such as beaches that have had the temporary opening of those sites to people, the number of people that have visited those sites has diminished significantly, revealing the stigma that has been created by the pandemic. This negatively reflects on the income generated by those tourist attraction sites.

Apart from the movement restrictions across States, the lockdown regulations that some countries such as Italy have imposed on their citizens has also influenced the number of people who can access tourist attraction sites. By locking down movement within countries, it means that there is no local tourism that is occurring in those countries. The net sales of businesses that provide services depended on by tourists will record lower sales, and so does the registration and net revenue received by the local authorities who generate their revenue from the levies they charge on tourists who visit the tourist attraction sites. Consequently, all the businesses and institutions that depend on tourism will record lower economic revenue from the lockdown regulations instituted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even after some countries have relaxed the restrictions that they have placed on the movement of people, either into or out of their countries, the number of people that can be transported by the airlines has been minimized significantly as well. Most airline companies have indicated that in providing their transport services to people who wish to move across countries, they must abide by some of the international regulations placed by the World Health Organization. This means that the concept of social distancing will be implemented, and the need for sanitization and wearing of masks will also be adhered to. Given these restrictions and the costs of operations that airlines will experience, and the reduced number of people that they can accommodate because of the need to implement the social distancing regulations, the costs of transport will increase significantly. This might discourage several people who would wish to travel to other destinations for tourism purposes. The negative impact of this reality is that it results in a slow recovery process for the tourist sector.

Given the above economic impacts on international tourism that are caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is the threat that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are global goals expected to be realized through several different mechanisms, could be delayed. Member states in the United Nations had adopted the SDGs in 2015 as a way of ensuring that poverty was reduced and that the planet was protected as well. The aim is to establish a global environment where all people could be prosperous and enjoy peace as well by 2030. One of the ways that have been touted as a plausible option in the reduction of poverty is the creation of jobs by different economic sectors.

The tourism sector employs several people through businesses that are supported by the tourism sector. Several hotels and restaurants exist to provide services for tourists, and small businesses as well that sell antics and other traditional ornaments have thrived because of the tourism sector. Where these businesses suffer because of the reduced activities in the tourism sector resulting from COVI-19 pandemic, the ability to achieve the SDGs by 203 delays as well. Tourism has also been a way that culture is promoted across the world, as people move from their home countries to visit other countries and learn about their cultures. The effect of this is the promotion of peace and understanding and enhancement of peaceful coexistence among countries. However, where the tourism sector is negatively impacted by COVID-19, and there are reasons for people to visit other countries, the impact on peace between nations is equally affected. This affects the achievement of one of the SDG objectives, which is to establish a peaceful coexistence among humanity.

In conclusion, the present COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the tourism sector in different ways. By limiting the movement of people across countries by different governments, the accessibility to tourist attraction destinations is reduced. This means that the businesses that rely on tourist activities, such as hotels and restaurants, have their sales revenues reduced significantly. COVID-19 pandemic has also led to most airline companies halting their services to passengers who would wish to move to other locations. The airline companies that have resumed their operations have increased their fares as well, and this makes the costs of tourism for people who would use air transport to travel much expensive. Consequently, this limits the extent to which tourism is practiced globally. It also negatively affects the realization of some of the SDG objectives, which are to reduce the poverty levels and improve peace and prosperity around the world.