Foreign Desk Report
NEW YORK: The economic effects from the plunge in tourism since the coronavirus pandemic emerged last year could be more than $4 trillion, a United Nations report said on Wednesday.
The joint report by the UN’s World Tourism Organization and Conference on Trade and Development found the lack of widespread vaccination in developing countries was leading to mounting economic losses.
“Tourism is a lifeline for millions and advancing vaccination to protect communities and support tourism’s safe restart is critical to the recovery of jobs and generation of much-needed resources,” UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said in a statement. He noted many developing countries are highly dependent on international tourism. Coronavirus brought international air travel to a near halt for much of last year as many countries refused to allow non-essential travel.
