The Arab Tourism Organization (ATO) has estimated the losses of the sector in the Arab world due to the Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) at nearly $130 billion.
According to ATO President Bandar Ben Fahd Al Fahid, the losses of the tourism sector in the Arab world are close to 130 billion dollars in comparison with the previous year, which would be equivalent to a 51.2% drop in the contribution of tourism and travel to the GDP of the Arab world, he said in statements reported on Saturday by several media.
This decline will have an impact on jobs in the sector in the Arab world, which could fall by 48.8%, thus leading to a drop in investments of nearly 25.4 billion dollars compared to 2019, he said, quoting ATO data.
He added that ATO has implemented a variety of measures and programs to support tourism in the Arab region, including the creation of a crisis fund, the provision of travel insurance to cover the risk of Coronavirus exposure for tourists, and the development of several online training courses for 10,000 professionals in the region.
The recovery of the tourism and travel sector impacted by the Coronavirus crisis will take at least three years and a return to the normal state of business will largely depend on the implementation by governments of adequate measures to address the epidemic risk, says a joint analytical study by ATO and the Arab Air Transport Organization (AACO).
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