Covid-19 briefing

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- ECONOMIC IMPACT -

Latest update: 16 December

According to Nomura, India is poised to be the fastest-growing Asian economy in 2021 with real GDP growth forecast at 9.9%, while China's is at 9% and Singapore at 7.5%.

According to the World Trade Organization, merchandise exports declined by 21% in Q2 2020 and exports of commercial services were down by 30% during the same period.

-3.8%

The IMF revised its 2020 global GDP forecast to -4.4% from an estimate of -4.9% made in June.

50%-75%

Following vaccine announcements, a 50%-75% uplift in air traffic is expected in 2021.

Impact of Covid-19 on Travel and tourism

- SECTOR IMPACT: Travel and tourism -

Latest update: 16 December

Travel and Tourism market impact

174m

174 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector will be impacted by Covid-19, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (29 October).

77%

In GlobalData’s emerging technology travel trends survey for 2020, 77% of tourism executives declared that they were prepared for a digital disruption.

Travel enters a new era

As Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc in the tourism sector, the consequences will - and already have - fundamentally changed how consumers travel and companies operate.

Long-standing changes to the sector will occur on technological, macroeconomic and industry levels. Some of these changes will impact more than one level. For example, hypervigilance around health and hygiene has caused a change in traveller demands that will create established changes at all three levels.

An increased need for health to be a priority in travel will surge in a number of areas including the implementation of ‘no-touch’ technology through the means of AI and IoT; the popularity of the sharing economy through the provision of cheap, secluded accommodation provided by the likes of Airbnb; and online travel sales due to consumers looking to avoid high street locations.

The companies that recognise how these changes in traveller demands impact their operations on these different scales have the best chance of accelerating recovery after the pandemic.

Key Travel and tourism developments

Creating seamless travel with technology
The increasing need for seamless experiences from travellers has heightened security threats for tourism companies in recent years.

Consumers now want to travel more efficiently and effectively than ever before, creating the need for connected experiences that save time but also add value. 

Now 32% of global consumers are either ‘often’ or ‘always’ influenced by ‘how digitally advanced/smart a product or service is’, according to GlobalData’s Week 10 Covid-19 Recovery Survey.

Building firewalls
As well as 52% of business executives stating that cybersecurity will play a significant role in their companies’ recovery, 41% of executives expect cybersecurity technology to live up to all its promises.

Additionally, 66% of Travel and Tourism executives fully understand this technology, according to GlobalData’s Emerging Technology Trends Survey 2020. Cyber ignorance and lack of investment could cause detrimental damage to company profitability, security and reputation and many tourism companies have already latched on to this.

Staying up to date
According to GlobalData’s Week 10 Covid-19 Recovery Survey (research carried out between 4-8 November 2020), 20% of global respondents will spend ‘slightly’ or ‘significantly’ more time reading online reviews and blogs.