Preliminary Assessment of the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on the Tourism Industry

Abstract

The tourism industry has been characterized by an extremely favorable evolution in the last decade. International tourism has seen ten years of uninterrupted growth in arrivals, often supported by all markets and regions. Tourism and related sectors have been severely affected since the beginning of the crisis caused by coronavirus, and as the situation escalates, there are clear signs that the impact will be greater than initially estimated. In this paper we aim to highlight the main elements of the impact of COVID-19 crisis on the tourism sector and what are the policy responses of the authorities, through sets of measures and recommendations, in order to mitigate the negative effects and preparing the industry for recovery. Despite the fact that the world's governments have taken a lot of measures with a wide range of instruments, the real impact is still difficult to be quantified and the speed of recovery depends on many uncertain factors.

Keywords

• tourism industry
• policy measures
• economic impact
• covid-19
• international tourism