Small,large tourism enterprises at risk: PATA
Travel Biz News —
Destinations in South and Southeast Asia are struggling to contain the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic’s shock to their tourism industries and economies, according to a report by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).
“2020’s inbound visitor arrivals are expected to decline nearly 80 percent. The COVID-19 pandemic has meant millions of job losses, the closure of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and hard times for the vulnerable communities that rely on tourism.”
Orderly and strategic tourism policy responses can mitigate the worst negative impacts of COVID-19 and, in some cases, lay a foundation for healthier, more sustainable post-pandemic growth, according to the report.
The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented crisis for the tourism industry and the millions of people across the Asia Pacific whose livelihoods depend on it. The magnitude of the impact is immense in terms of the potential shrinkage of revenues, GDP and jobs.
Domestic tourism has been harnessed as a primary fiscal stimulus and recovery tool by some of the countries, according to the report.
Many tourism SMEs will not survive, and some larger national and international players are at risk. The travel and tourism sector that emerges from the crisis may look quite different to that which preceded it.
SMEs made up 4/5 of the pre-crisis tourism economy, and many of those operated on thin margins.
As a result, the unprecedented pause in tourism has forced many countries and destinations to start reassessing their business models based on ever-increasing tourist numbers and to plan for an increased focus on sustainable tourism in the future.
The report, titled “COVID-19 and the Tourism Sector: A Comparison of Policy Responses in Asia Pacific”, aims to aid tourism recovery by providing policymakers and donors innovative and best practice examples of policy response.
The report presents policy responses in five developing destinations spread across South and Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
PATA Report was conducted by Clickable Impact Consulting Group and supported by the Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM), a project implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Dec. 9 , 2020
Image credit: PATA
