20 Unexpected Global Travel Events (So Far) in 2020

The first half of 2020 was disastrous for the global travel industry. The coronavirus, and government responses to suppress its spread, saw the travel demand factor begin sharply diminishing from February onwards. What happened next? By Gary Bowerman.

While tourism sector revenues evaporated, the costs did not. Airlines, hotels, travel agents and tour operators tell tough stories about burning through cash flow. We’ve all seen (and in some cases taken) photographs of empty airports, tourist-free cities, vacant highways and derelict UNESCO sites.

COVID Caution Prevails Worldwide

In some parts of the world, notably the US, South America, Africa and the Middle East, COVID-19 is raging. In Asia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Philippines are struggling to contain it. Countries that had driven down the curve, such as China, Australia and New Zealand, have experienced worrying new outbreaks.

So, 6 months since the first cases of “viral pneumonia“ were reported in Wuhan in late December 2019, let’s rewind – and ask ourselves … “Who could have predicted that in 2020…”

1. The UNWTO would publish the phrase: “100% of global destinations now have COVID-19 travel restrictions,” as it did on 28 April.

2. Singapore Changi Airport, one of Asia’s primary connective hubs that handled 68.3 million passengers in 2019, would operate from just 2 of its 4 terminals – and defer for 2 years construction of T5.

3. Any country, let alone all of them, would lock out the world’s largest outbound market: China. Some 155 million Chinese outbound trips were made in 2019. Currently, Chinese borders remain closed.

4. Consumer travel sentiment surveys rather than visitor arrivals, flight seat data and hotel occupancies would shape the budgeting and planning of tourism marketers.

5. The Tokyo Olympics and UEFA European Championships, the 2 major sports tourism events of 2020, would be postponed until 2021.

Read Gary Bowerman‘s full article here on Travel Daily Media

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