by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:11 AM ET, Thu October 29, 2020
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) revealed data that suggests an estimated 174 million jobs in the industry could be lost by the end of the year due to the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent travel restrictions.
According to the WTTC's latest economic data, current restrictions on international travel could impact as many as 174 million jobs around the world, which is down from the group's previous projections of 197 million jobs lost.
Tourism officials said the positive gains were driven mostly by the return of domestic travel in countries such as China. The data also suggested the easing of current travel restrictions could save as many as 31 million jobs by the end of 2020.
"Our latest data reveals the gravity of the long-term negative impact facing the global Travel & Tourism sector, if we don't work together to resume international travel immediately," WTTC President Gloria Guevara said.
"As travel restrictions around the world remained in place over the summer months, our estimates report an increase from 121 million to 143 million jobs lost," Guevara continued. "In the space of just four months, our study has shown a further 22 million jobs under threat worldwide. This is devastating news, and we need international coordinated action now."
The job losses and travel restrictions would also eliminate around $4.7 trillion in tourism's contribution to global GDP, equating to a 53 percent loss this year compared to 2019.
Just a few weeks ago, the WTTC presented the 100 Million Jobs Recovery Plan to save the travel industry from the impact of COVID-19. The plan covered a range of key initiatives that hinged on securing strong international coordination to re-establish effective operations and restart travel.
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