New York-Sana
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that the tourism sector is still suffering greatly as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic, expecting a loss of four trillion dollars by the end of 2021.
And the United Nations News Center quoted Guterres as saying on World Tourism Day, “Tourism continues to suffer greatly from the Covid-19 epidemic. In the first five months of this year, the number of international tourist arrivals decreased by 95 percent in parts of the world, and expectations indicate a loss of more than 4 trillion dollars in global GDP by the end of 2021,” considering that “this is a big shock to advanced economies, but for developing countries it is an emergency.”
Guterres added that "climate change is also severely affecting many major tourist destinations, particularly small island developing states, where tourism accounts for nearly 30 percent of economic activity."
Guterres added that actions and investments must be made to shift towards green tourism with high-emissions sectors including air and sea transport, hospitality and the move towards carbon neutrality.
Guterres stressed that the tourism sector can then become an engine of prosperity, a means of integration, a means of protecting our planet and biodiversity, and an agent of cultural understanding between peoples.
