Year 2020 – a turbulent year in travel, but signs of market recovery by 2023
Travel Biz News —
The global travel and tourism market is set to recover fully from the coronavirus pandemic by 2023 and achieve record turnover figures.
According to the forecasts of the Mobility Market Outlook (MMO) released by the data and market research institute Statista, the global travel and tourism revenue for 2021 is forecasted to increase by over 50 per cent compared to 2020.
New revenue records can be expected from 2023 onwards; for 2025 the MMO experts even predict a revenue growth of almost 23 per cent versus the success year 2019.
“2020 stood out in many ways but it was dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The spread of the coronavirus changed the everyday lives of billions, and for many companies it triggered an economic crisis. Nevertheless, there is cause for hope. “
Statista projects a 55 per cent loss of turnover in the tourism industry for 2020.
According to UNWTO figures, between 1950 and 2019 annual international arrivals increased from 25 million to almost 1.5 billion, by a total of 5,744 per cent. By contrast, in October 2020, year-on-year international tourism arrivals fell by 72 per cent.
This also impacted the German travel industry, which according to Norbert Fiebig, president of the German Travel Association (DRV), registered a 28 billion euro decline (80%) in turnover in 2020. According to a November 2020 survey by the DIHK, 94% of companies in the German travel sector expected a turnover decline in 2020. No other industry has registered such high losses, and as a result the tourism industry has been particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Projections by Statista based on WTTC, WorldData and OECD figures show that domestic tourism markets in Germany and other popular countries have not been impacted as severely by the coronavirus pandemic as international tourism.
In 2019 domestic tourism accounted for close to 259 billion euros, 85% of Germany’s domestic tourism revenues, whereas for 2020 the share is projected to be 91% (approx. 173 billion euros). Accordingly, turnover in Germany’s international tourism market is forecast to shrink by over 60 %, from approximately 45 billion to around 16 billion euros.
At the same time domestic tourism is expected to recover as early as 2022, with turnover reaching 2019 levels.
Experts at Statista forecast that technological innovations in particular will have a positive impact on the industry, e.g., AI-based, personalised services and innovative forms of presenting tourism services with VR. The current low volume of travel together with technological innovations could spur a rapid recovery of the industry.
21 January , 2021
Photo : Messe Berlin
