The pandemic travel bus that hit tourism-dependent economies can only begin.
Tourist destinations from Thailand to Iceland hoped that Covid-19 vaccines would enable countries to reopen their borders and bring about a much-needed recovery in 2021. Now, with the rollout of vaccines in some places and new virus strains appearing, it seems more likely that international travel could come to a standstill for years.
After the United Nations World Tourism Organization declared that 2020 was the worst year for tourism on the record, with one billion fewer international arrivals, the prospects for a 2021 rebound worsened. In October, 79% of experts surveyed by the agency believed a setback in 2021 was possible. Only 50% said they believe this in January, and about 41% did not think travel would reach pre-pandemic levels by 2024 or later.
James Sowane, a transport company that takes care of tourists in Fiji, convened a staff meeting earlier this month and told employees to look for other jobs. He recently used a government aid program and brought back a number of laid-off workers, who are optimistic that vaccines could cause a setback as early as April.
But now Mr. Sowane not that tourists will not return until next year, and he and his wife can not afford to keep paying wages at their business, Pacific Destinations Fiji. He borrows from his bank to keep some core workers.