Destinations easing restrictions, with Europe leading the way: UNWTO

Restrictions on travel, introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, are slowly being eased, allowing tourism to restart in a growing number of destinations, the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said on Tuesday.

According to the UNWTO’s latest research, as of 15 June, 22% of all destinations worldwide (48 of them) have started to ease restrictions – up from just 3% (7 destinations) on May 18 – with Europe leading the way.

Destinations that have eased travel restrictions for tourists include:

– 37 destinations in Europe, including 24 of the 26 Schengen Member States
– 6 destinations in the Americas, including 5 Small Island Developing States
– 3 destinations in Asia and the Pacific, including 2 Small Island Developing States
– 2 destinations in Africa

At the same time, the COVID-19 Related Travel Restrictions report makes clear that many destinations are maintaining a cautious approach to lifting or easing restrictions on travel. As of 15 June, 24% of all destinations worldwide (51 destinations) have had travel restrictions now in place for 19 weeks and 37% (80 destinations) for 15 weeks.

In total, 65% of destinations worldwide (141 destinations) continue to have their borders completely closed to international tourism.

In Africa, the proportion of destinations where borders remain closed to tourists stands now at 85 percent. In the Americas, 76% of destinations maintain full border closures, as do 67% of destinations in Asia and the Pacific and 92% of destinations in the Middle East. In Europe, these full border closures are reduced now to 26% of all destinations.

The UNWTO also recently released new data measuring the impact of Covid-19 on the global tourism sector.

While April was expected to be one of the busiest times of the year due to the Easter holidays, the near-universal introduction of travel restrictions led to a fall of 97% in international tourist arrivals. This follows a 55% decline in March. Between January and April 2020, international tourist arrivals declined by 44%, translating into a loss of about US$195 billion in international tourism receipts.

At the regional level, Asia and the Pacific were the first to be hit by the pandemic and the worst hit between January and April, with arrivals down 51% in that period. Europe recorded the second-largest fall, with a 44% drop for the same period, followed by the Middle East (-40%), the Americas (-36%) and Africa (-35%).