The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC's) annual Economic Impact Report has revealed the full devastating impact of COVID-19 on the global travel and tourism sector last year.
The industry suffered a loss of almost US$4.5 trillion.
The annual report from the Council, which represents the global travel and tourism private sector, shows the industry's contribution to GDP dropped a staggering 49.1 percent.
The World Travel and Tourism Council reported that vast losses in 2020, paint the first full picture of a sector struggling to survive in the face of crippling travel restrictions which continue to threaten the urgent recovery of the world economy.
The travel and tourism sector's contribution to global GDP plummeted to US$4.7 trillion in 2020, from nearly US$9.2 trillion the previous year.
In 2019, when global travel and tourism were thriving and generating one in four of all new jobs around the world, the sector contributed 334 million jobs globally.
However last year, as the pandemic ripped through the heart of travel and tourism, more than 62 million jobs were lost.
The job losses were felt across the entire ecosystem of travel and tourism, with small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up 80% of all businesses in the sector, particularly affected.
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