April 15 - The World Travel & Tourism Council’s annual Economic Impact Report (EIR) reveals the dramatic impact COVID-19 had on France’s Travel & Tourism sector, wiping out €103 billion from the nation’s economy.

 

The annual EIR from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, shows the sector’s contribution to GDP dropped a staggering 48.8%.

 

Following three consecutive years in which the Travel & Tourism sector’s growth outpaced that of the overall economy, its impact on the nation’s GDP fell from €211 billion (8.5%) in 2019, to €108 billion (4.7%), just 12 months later, in 2020.

 

The year of damaging travel restrictions which brought much of international travel to a grinding halt, resulted in the loss of 193,000 Travel & Tourism jobs across the country.

 

WTTC believes the true picture could be significantly worse, if not for the government’s job retention scheme which offered a lifeline to thousands of businesses and workers. However, the scheme is hiding the real extent of the losses and the terrible social impact they could bring.

 

These job losses were felt across the entire Travel & Tourism ecosystem in the country, with SMEs, which make up eight out of 10 of all global businesses in the sector, particularly affected.

 

Furthermore, as one of the world’s most diverse sectors, the impact on women, youth and minorities was significant.

 

The number of those employed in the French Travel & Tourism sector fell from nearly 2.7 million in 2019, to 2.5 million in 2020 - a drop of 7.2%.

 

However, due to the government’s robust job retention scheme, this figure was significantly lower than the global average fall of 18.5%.

 

The report also revealed domestic visitor spending declined by 49.8%, and while international spending fared even worse due to more stringent travel restrictions, falling by-52.9%, this was once again significantly better than the global average decline of almost -70%.

 

As it will take a significant amount of time to vaccinate the global population, particularly those in less advanced countries, or in different age groups, WTTC strongly believes that we should not discriminate against those who wish to travel but have not been vaccinated.

 

WTTC says the key to unlocking safe international travel can be achieved through a clear and science-based framework to including rapid testing before departure, as well as enhanced health and hygiene protocols, including mandatory mask wearing.

 

WTTC also supports the introduction of a health pass such as the European Commission’s Digital Green Certificate, which would further enable safe international travel.

 

These measures will be the foundation to build the recovery of the many millions of jobs lost due to the pandemic.

 

It would also reduce the terrible social implications these losses have had on communities reliant on Travel & Tourism and upon ordinary people who have been isolated by COVID-19 restrictions.

 

 

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