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According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s GDP expanded by 8.1% to reach $17.7tn in 2021, whereas the EU’s GDP expanded by 5.2% to reach $17tn during the same year.

According to the IMF, global economic growth will slow down to 4.4% in 2022, compared to 5.9% in 2021. The real GDP growth rate of the advanced economies has been projected at 3.9% in 2022.

 The unemployment rate in OECD nations stood at 5.4% in December 2021, compared to 5.5% in November 2021.

 The unemployment rate in the Euro area stood at 7% in December 2021, a marginal decline from 7.1% in November 2021.

Impact on airlines

Airline traffic continues to be volatile, and any surge in a country’s cases is negatively impacting carriers, with traveller uncertainty
continuing to remain. Demand for international air travel retained growth momentum through to the end of 2021.

International travel demand could now face a period of decline due to the Omicron variant. Ed Bastian, Delta chief executive, recently stated that Omicron had hit bookings for January 2022, mainly for international travel.

IMPACT ON INTERMEDIARIES

Intermediaries have been under significant pressure during the pandemic. Many online travel agencies are now boosting their spending on advertising to generate demand.

Expedia Group increased its Q3 2021 sales and marketing spend by 150% YoY, to a staggering $1.3bn. The intermediary also confirmed its plans to run Superbowl ads for both Expedia.com and Vrbo this year.

In some cases, relationships with suppliers such as low-cost carriers have broken down where conditions around flexibility and refunds have not been clear.

KEY TRAVEL AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENTS