OREANDA-NEWS. Income from tourism in the world this year may be reduced by $ 500 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic. This was stated in an interview with Russian media by the Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization Zurab Pololikashvili.

“The consequences of the crisis can still be mitigated if governments take firm and decisive actions to protect jobs in the tourism sector and give our sector priority in efforts to restore the economy”, the Secretary General added. “According to our study, since the beginning of the pandemic 96 % of countries have imposed full or partial travel restrictions".

"At the same time, we must also recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic will damage small businesses", Pololikashvili said. "In the tourism sector, 80% of companies are small and medium-sized enterprises". “This jeopardizes the livelihoods of individuals and their families”, he said. “Helping tourism to return to growth again is the task of our economy, it will have a broader effect, and will benefit whole communities and societies, protect livelihoods and transform lives".

The outbreak caused by the new coronavirus disease was recorded at the end of 2019 in Central China, spread to most countries of the world and was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11.