THE tourism industry has been one of the hardest-hit sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the economic impact of this has been worse for some countries and continents than others.
For years, Europe has been rated the most visited region in the world by the UN’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), accounting for around 50 percent of the world’s tourist arrivals.
According to the latest European Union Tourism Trends Report (2019), five out of the top 10 visited destinations in the world in 2018 were in the EU. There were 710 million international tourist arrivals to Europe in 2018 alone, amounting to a 51 percent global share.
However, these numbers are dropping rapidly, as countries that once topped the charts as the most popular tourist destinations in the world are now struggling with depleted visitor numbers, as fears of a second wave of the virus rise.
New restrictions being imposed
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