REUTERS
It will be possible to talk about any resumption only in late 2023.
Ukraine's Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko has said crisis in tourism caused by the spread of COVID-19 will continue until the end of 2023.
"According to forecasts in the tourism industry, crisis will continue until the end of 2023. That is, it will be possible to talk about the resumption only in late 2023, i.e. we still have at least two years of testing ahead of us," he said during the all-Ukrainian Forum "Ukraine 30. Coronavirus: Challenges and Responses," an UNIAN correspondent reports.
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Tourism has become one of the sectors of the economy most affected by the coronavirus pandemic since international travel has almost stopped due to quarantine curbs and closed borders. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the losses in tourism industry due to the reduction in the number of trips around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic in the first 10 months of 2020 amounted to US$935 billion. Thus, world tourism returned to the 1990 level.
The losses of air carriers turned out to be no lower. At the same time, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation has published three forecasts for the restoration of air traffic, according to which tourists will be able to normally fly to Europe no earlier than 2024.
At the same time, most countries, as well as the EU, are in no hurry to reopen borders to foreign tourists, including from Ukraine.
There is increasing talk of introducing vaccination passports that will allow tourists to travel again. Some countries, like Israel, are already actively introducing them.