The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is now estimating more than 100 million job losses in the travel and tourism sector due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This figure has increased by over 30 per cent in the last four weeks. 

The WTTC alerted G20 tourism ministers to the extent of the crisis at their latest gathering by virtual video conference. Of the 100.8 million jobs at risk, almost 75 million of them are in G20 countries.

WTTC analysis also shows a sharp escalation in the economic loss to the world economy, up to US$2.7 trillion of GDP, from US$2.1 trillion just a month ago. 

More than 1 million jobs are being lost a day, the WTTC said.

WTTC president & CEO, Gloria Guevara, said: “This is a staggering and deeply worrying change in such a short time. In just the last month alone, our research shows an increase of 25 million in the number of job losses in Travel & Tourism. The whole cycle of tourism is being wiped out by the pandemic.

“We have alerted the G20 tourism ministers to the extent of the crisis and advised on how governments need to step in swiftly to support and protect our sector.

“Travel & Tourism is the backbone of the global economy. Without it, global economies will struggle to recover in any meaningful way and hundreds of millions of people will suffer enormous financial and mental damage for years to come.”

Travel & tourism contributes 10.3 per cent of global GDP, is responsible for generating one in four of the world’s new jobs and, for nine successive years, has outpaced the growth of the global economy.

Last week, WTTC launched a #TogetherinTravel campaign in an effort to galvanise the global travel and tourism community.

Visit wttc.org for more information.