France’s GDP Fell by €103 Billion in 2020 Due to Travel Restrictions
France’s travel and tourism sector has experienced a massive loss of €103 billion during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has revealed a research carried out by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and presented through the annual Economic Impact Report (EIR).
The annual EIR from WTTC, which represents the global travel and tourism sector, has shown that the sector’s contribution to France’s gross domestic product (GDP) has dropped by 48.8 per cent, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
More precisely, the country’s GDP fell from €211 billion or 8.5 per cent registered in 2019 to €108 billion or 4.7 per cent only one year later, in 2020, according to a WTTC press release.
The previous year, which brought many restrictions against international travel, resulted in the loss of around 193,000 jobs throughout the sector all over the territory of France.
Nevertheless, the situation could have been worse if the country’s government did not use its job retention scheme, the introduction of which saved thousands of jobs and prevented the travel and tourism sector’s collapse.
“WTTC believes that if restrictions on travel, especially from countries outside of the EU, are relaxed before the busy summer season, alongside a clear roadmap for increased mobility and a comprehensive testing on departure scheme in place, the 193,000 jobs lost in France could return next year,” President and CEO of WTTC Gloria Guevara said.
The job losses were felt across the whole French tourism sector, particularly by small and medium-sized enterprises that make up eight out of ten businesses highly affected by such restrictions.
WTTC pointed out that as one of the most diverse sectors, the travel and tourism industry mainly affected women, youth, and minorities. The number of those employed in the sector fell from €2.7 million in 2019 to €2.5 million in 2020.
The research further reveals that domestic visitor spending dropped by 49.8 per cent. In comparison, international visitor spending fell by 52.9 per cent, but still better than the global average decrease of nearly 70 per cent.
“Our research shows that if mobility and international travel resume by June this year, the sector’s contribution to global GDP could rise sharply in 2021, by 48.5 per cent, year-on-year,” Guevara stated.
WTTC claims that the key to achieving safe international travel and reviving the tourism sector is utilising a clear and science-oriented framework and introducing Digital Green Certificates.
Except for France, WTTC has revealed that Italy’s travel and tourism sector lost €121 billion and Germany’s travel and tourism sector lost €161 billion in 2020 due to the imposed restrictions. At the same time, the global sector lost around €3,8 trillion as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
