- The UK lost 18.5 percent of its travel and tourism jobs since the outbreak of COVID-19.
- In 2019, 12 percent jobs in the country were in the travel and tourism sector versus close to 11 percent in 2020.
- The GDP contribution for the tourism sector in the UK went from 10.1 percent to 4.2 percent from 2019 to 2020.
International visitor impact on spending went from GBP 35.6 billion to GBP 10.1 billion, a whopping 71.6 percent loss from 2019 to 2020. Domestic visitor impact on spending went from GBP 160.1 billion to GBP 58.9 billion or a loss of 63.2 percent. The numbers comparing domestic spending was 82 percent in 2019 and 85 percent in 2020. International spending was 18 percent in 2019 and 15 percent in 2020.
The leisure travel market took a nose-dive from 2019 at US$170.3 billion to 2020 at US$65.2 billion, reflecting a 5 percent dip in leisure traveler spend in the UK.
The top 5 inbound arrivals to the UK in 2020 were:
– France: 10 percent
– Ireland: 9 percent
– United States: 9 percent
– Germany: 7 percent
– Spain: 6 percent
The top 5 outbound markets where people from the UK like to travel to are:
– France: 24 percent
– Spain: 13 percent
– Italy: 11 percent
– Ireland: 5 percent
– Greece: 4 percent
This data based on the WTTC Economic Trends Report, reveals COVID-19’s dramatic impact on Travel and Tourism around the world.