WTTC Says a Million Tourism Jobs Lost Everyday to Coronavirus

As many as one million jobs are being lost every day in the tourism sector due to the sweeping effect of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

According to the London-based international organisation, the growing job losses are affecting every level of the industry and are gathering pace as countries go into lockdown.

The organisation argues the vast closure of hotels, suspension of the majority of international and domestic airline flights, cessation of cruise lines and growing global travel bans are all having a catastrophic ‘domino effect’ hitting huge numbers of suppliers worldwide.

Small- and medium-sized businesses at every level within tourism, such as tour operators, travel agents and sole-traders, are especially vulnerable.

The organisation, which is already in talks with over 75 governments around the world, has called for countries to urgently do more to intervene to make clearer how businesses can access potentially life-saving loans, and tax breaks, to prevent them from imminent collapse.

However, WTTC officials were clear to point out, while the tourism sector is facing an economic meltdown, the coronavirus pandemic is primarily a global health disaster.