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Impacts of COVID-19 on selected tourism industry branches 2

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  Accommodation and food service   Hotel Globally, hotels have reported having extremely low occupancy rates, or have experienced closures on a massive scale. Big hotel chains have seen their stock price plunge as a result. In Europe it was estimated that 76% of hotels were closed. According to STR, in the first week of May many countries had an average occupancy rate lower than 30%. Some shared accommodation categories, such as hostels or camping, may be impacted in the longer term.   Shared accommodation platform economy The virus outbreak has put shared accommodation platforms under pressure, with reported declines in apartment bookings. In May, Airbnb cut 25% of workforce29 .   Holiday resorts Ski resorts were forced to end the winter season earlier due to increasing coronavirus spread, and those that have successfully diversified to develop an alternative summer season offer are increasing seeing this at risk. The future for beach resorts in the Northern hemisphere summer remains
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Impacts of COVID-19 on selected tourism industry branches 1

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Transport and tour operators                                                         Aviation  Airlines have had to drastically reduce and in some cases ground their fleets and cease their activities, with extreme impacts on the short-term on employees and dependant activities. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) estimates, as of 8 May, indicate that the fall in scheduled international passenger traffic during 2020, will equate to a reduction of between 44 to 80% of international passengers21. Airports Council International, as of 5 May, estimates that the crisis will result in a reduction of 4.6 billion passengers in 2020. This will have a knock on effect on airports, which could face a global loss of USD 97 billion22. IATA expects recovery in air travel to lag economic recovery, with no uptick before 202123. Some airlines which had grounded flights, such as Ryanair, have announced plans to restart flight operations at a reduced capacity24, while Emirate is has introduced
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Coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented crisis for the tourism economy

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  The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is, first and foremost, a humanitarian crisis affecting people’s lives, and has triggered a global economic crisis. This has very tangible impacts for the tourism sector, which is critical for many people, places and businesses, with the impact particularly felt in countries, cities and regions where tourism is an important part of the economy.   Tourism generates foreign exchange, drives regional development, directly supports numerous types of jobs and businesses and underpins many local communities. The  sector directly contributes, on average, 4.4% of GDP, and 21.5% of service exports  in OECD countries5. These shares are much higher for several OECD countries. For example, tourism in Spain contributes 11.8% of GDP while travel represents 52.3% of total service exports, in Mexico these figures are 8.7% and 78.3%, in Iceland 8.6% and 47.7%, in Portugal 8.0% and 51.1%, and in France 7.4% and 22.2%6 .                        Figure 1.  Direct contr
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