WTTC research points to staggering loss for UK travel and tourism sector
Latest WTTC research shows a massive impact on UK GDP due to the collapse of travel and tourism.
The World Travel & Tourism Council’s annual Economic Impact Report (EIR) revealed that the Covid pandemic led to a staggering £148 billion loss to the UK economy.
The travel sector’s contribution to GDP dropped by 62.3%.
Travel and tourism GDP fell from £238 billion (10.1%) in 2019 before the pandemic struck, to just £90 billion (4.2%) 12 months later in 2020.
A year of crippling travel restrictions and ineffective hotel quarantines, which have brought international travel to a grinding halt, resulted in the loss of 307,000 travel reletaed jobs across the country.
However, WTTC believes the true picture could be significantly worse, if not for government fiscal and liquidity incentives, as well as furlough and job protection schemes.
Across all sectors they are estimated to be currently protecting more than 11 million jobs, which hides the true extent of the losses.
According to latest figures, the UK government is estimated to have spent more than £46 billion on job retention schemes, with that figure expected to rise to £80 billion by the time the various programmess end in October 2021.
The number of those employed in the UK travel and tourism sector fell from 4.27 million in 2019, to 3.96 million in 2020 – a fall of 7.2%.
The report also revealed domestic visitor spending declined by 63.2% due to nationwide lockdowns.
International spending fared even worse, with a fall of 71.6%.
Gloria Guevara, President & CEO WTTC, said: "The loss of more than 300,000 travel and tourism jobs across the UK has had a devastating socio-economic impact, leaving huge numbers of people fearing for their future."
"But the situation could have been far worse if it were not for the government’s prompt action, which introduced job retention schemes to save millions of jobs under threat."
"There are grounds for optimism if the UK’s world-leading vaccine rollout continues at pace and travel restrictions are relaxed just before the busy summer season," Guevara added.
"WTTC believes that another year of terrible losses can be avoided if the government supports the swift resumption of international travel, which will be vital to powering the turnaround of the UK economy."
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025