UK, Germany, France & Italy, EU countries with the highest loss of tourism revenue due to COVID-1919

About every industry worldwide has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The tourism and transport industries are among the industries that seem to be most affected, due to travel restrictions imposed by countries around the world attempting to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) report, the core mission of which is to resolve tourism-related issues, EU countries are expected to face major revenue losses due to tourist shortages in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of the year.

The Council has issued reports on the financial losses of the following EU countries up to that point:

At the cost of losing £22 billion, the United Kingdom

Due to international travel restrictions and a shortage of tourists, the United Kingdom could experience a loss of £ 22 billion by the end of the year. Foreign investment in the United Kingdom this year could plunge by 78 percent in the UK economy compared to last year, equivalent to £ 60 million a day and £ 420 million a week.

Almost three million jobs supported by the travel and tourism industry, which supported 11% of the total UK workforce in 2019 and produced about £ 200 billion of GDP, may also be put at risk by this crash.

In 2019, the United Kingdom received £ 28.2 billion from foreign travel spending, an important sum for the UK economy, according to the WTTC report.

Tourists' absence could wipe out EUR 38 billion from Germany

Germany is also a member of the EU community of countries which could be facing a financial crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the decline in the number of foreign tourists this year, the country is expected to lose 38 billion euros.

This lack of visitors could lead to an 82 percent decrease in foreign spending, which is equivalent to EUR 104.1 million a day, or EUR 729 million a week. In addition, Germany could lose about 4.6 million jobs in the transport and tourism sectors due to international travel bans imposed on countries with high levels of coronavirus infections.

Tourists from the Netherlands and Switzerland were the largest source of income in Germany during the period 2016-18, with 12 and 9 percent of foreign tourists, respectively.

The EUR 48 billion loss is expected to be sustained by France

According to the same WTTC report, France could lose EUR 48 billion because of the absence of foreign tourists and the overall financial collapse. This lack of tourists could cause an 82 per cent drop in international spending. In addition, over 2 million jobs in the tourism industry across France may also be lost.

In 2019, France earned EUR 4.9 billion from international tourism investment, or EUR 1.1 billion a week, or EUR 160 million a day.

Absence of tourists to Italy With a deficit of 36 billion euros

Italy could lose EUR 36.7 billion in addition to the UK, Germany and France due to the international travel crash. The sum spent by tourists in Italy is projected to decrease by 82% by the end of the year, impacting the Italian economy with a deficit of EUR 100 million per day, or an average of EUR 700 million per week. This will contribute to the loss of 2,8 million jobs generated in the country by the tourism industry.

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of the WTTC, proposed replacing quarantine steps with swift, robust and cost-effective monitoring and tracking systems at each country's departure points, in order to increase the number of travelers to these countries and to prevent further financial losses.

Together with its members, the WTTC has previously called on the leaders of the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, as well as other G7 leaders, to begin working towards a shared solution that could help to respond to the crisis.

More recently, the Alliance for the European Tourism Manifesto has also urged EU Member States to focus on achieving collective cooperation in the area of travel restrictions.