Covid-19 has almost killed the global tourism. After the disastrous quarterly published by airline companies, to make the picture even darker come the data provided by the World Tourism Organization (Unwto) which for 2020 calculates global losses for the sector equal to 1.300 billion dollars.
The figure, underlines the UN agency, represents "more than 11 times the loss recorded during the global economic crisis of 2009" and corresponds to a 74% drop in arrivals of tourists in the world compared to 2019.
To try to remedy the suffering of a key sector such as tourism and of the economy in general, the United Nations is therefore asking that in 2021 "the 'smart investing' on the economic, social and climate front capable of guaranteeing a robust and sustainable recovery of the global economy”.
As for Italy, the data arrived today Assairports, according to which Italian airports closed 2020 with 53 million passengers compared to 193 million in 2019. A decline of 140 million passengers (-72,6%). Air movements were also down sharply (-57,2%), while cargo traffic limited the decline to -23,7% thanks to the boom in eCommerce and the key role played by freight transport during the pandemic, to allow distribution in all geographical areas of the country of medical devices and equipment.
As far as scheduled flights are concerned, the restrictions imposed by governments to contain the virus have discouraged 7 out of 10 passengers from flying and, to be penalized the most, they were non-EU destinations, which mark a -81,2%. Equally sharp was the drop in EU traffic -77,5%, while domestic flights decreased by 61,3%. National routes, which in 2019 represented 33% of total traffic, reached a weight of around 50%.
“The 2020 results confirm the gloomy predictions of a disastrous year for airports Italians”, commented the president of Assaeroporti Fabrizio Palenzona, underlining that “the situation remains extremely heavy”.
Equally heavy are the data contained in the Airport Industry Connectivity Report 2020 of Aci Europe, which indicate that in Europe the connectivity indices have recorded a contraction greater than that of passenger traffic. In Italy, from April to September 2020, air connectivity has been reduced by almost 90% compared to 2019.
