With border closures and quarantines preventing millions of people from travelling abroad, which destinations will suffer most from pandemic restrictions? Jenny Southan reports
The British government has announced that from July 10, people arriving in England from more than 50 low- to medium-risk countries around the world (such as Turkey, Cyprus, Greece and France) would no longer need to quarantine, meaning tourism between these new “travel corridors” will be better facilitated.
However, there are also a number of countries that remain off-limit due to the high number of Covid-19 cases there. Those on the “red” list include the US, China, Brazil, Mexico, the Maldives, Portugal, Thailand and Sweden.
While advice from the FCO will also be relaxed for “green” and “amber” destinations, only “essential” travel to “red” countries will be permitted. However, travel to the US from the UK remains banned, as is travel from the UK to the Maldives, for example.
The Covid-19 pandemic has decimated the global travel industry, but some destinations are facing more of a crisis than others due to their economic reliance on tourism.
Where is the place that relies most on tourism in the world and will therefore suffer most from travel restrictions?
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, it’s Macau, where more than 90 per cent of its GDP comes from people coming to play in casinos and live the high life at glitzy hotels.
To put this into perspective, income from tourism and travel represents just nine per cent of the UK’s GDP and 8.6 per cent of the US’s (putting them in 93rd and 98th position, respectively, in the global rankings).
At the moment, all air passengers, including Macau residents, must get a certificate confirming that they have tested negative for coronavirus within the last seven days before they are allowed to board their flight to Macau.
It also remains entirely closed to tourists – travellers who are not residents of Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan or mainland China will be denied entry. However, those travelling from Macau to England can now do so without quarantining.
Here are the top 30 locations globally that will need an influx of big-spending visitors as soon as it is safe to welcome them…
(Data is from the World Travel and Tourism Council. It includes direct, indirect and induced impacts of travel and tourism.)
Destinations and total travel and tourism contribution to GDP as percentage of total GDP to that economy
*Other Oceania includes American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Samoa and Tuvalu
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