The State of Travel – 2020
Let’s go around the horn to some of the key industry and international groups reporting on the 2020 #travelfacts…
IATA – International Air Transport Association
– The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for the world’s airlines
– 2020 to be worse for airlines than any projection – IATA Annual General Meeting
– Global airline industry expected to lose $119B in 2020 vs. gain of $26B in profits in 2019 (with expectations near $30B for 2020)
– Less than 2B people flew this year vs. 5B in 2019.
– Global airlines reported revenues of $328B – nearly $500B less than 2019
– Air cargo was a bright spot: Revenues rose to $118B vs. $102B in 2019 last year even as capacity fell to be 45% of 2019
UNWTO – UN World Tourism Organization
– The World Tourism Organization is the United Nations specialized agency entrusted with the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism
– 2020 was the worst year on record in the history of tourism – 1) restrictions on travel 2) low consumer confidence 3) global struggle to contain the COVID-19 virus
– Global tourism is returning to levels of 1990 – approximately 30 years ago
– International arrivals fell by 72% through October – expect full-year decline by 70%-75%
– Destinations expected to welcome 1B fewer international tourists vs. 2019
– Expected loss of $1.1T in export revenues from international tourism receipts – more than 10x the loss during the 2009 global financial crisis.
– Expected economic loss of US$2T in global GDP
– UNWTO points to a rebound by the second half of 2021. A return to 2019 levels in terms of international arrivals could take 2.5 – 4 years.
WTTC – World Travel & Tourism Council
– The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is a forum representing the private industry interests for the travel and tourism industry
– Globally, 8 of 10 businesses within Travel & Tourism are SME’s, employing millions of people
– Globally, Travel & Tourism is also one of the most diverse sectors, employing people from all backgrounds, with almost 50% women and up to 30% youths
– 7.2M jobs in the U.S. have been impacted and as many as 9.2M jobs could be lost
– Across North America, betwen 10.8M-13.8M jobs within Travel & Tourism are at serious risk
US Travel Association
– U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the US travel industry
– Travel spending in 2020 will be down 45% when compared with 2019 (2020: $617B vs. 2019: $1.13T)
– Steep drop 55% decline in business travel
– Do not expect travel to return to pre-pandemic levels (2019: $1.1T+) until at least 2025
– 50% of all direct travel jobs may be lost in 2020 – total loss of 4.5M jobs
– Forecasts of a 75% reduction in international visitors to the United States in 2020 accounting for a $119B decline in spending