Unsurprising yet still devastating news: according to Official ESTA—a third-party visa application service—the United States suffered the biggest tourism revenue loss across the globe in the first 10 months of 2020. The financial burden accounts for a total of $147.2 billion.
RECOMMENDED: Get paid $500 to binge-watch Netflix and eat pizza
ESTA used data sourced directly from the UN World Tourism Organization and the World Bank (you can access that right here) to come up with a list of countries whose tourism industry was most widely impacted due to COVID-19. Although Spain lands in second place, following the U.S., the disparity in financial losses is pretty grand. Seeing fewer than 20 million foreign visitors in 2020, Spain lost nearly $47 billion in tourism, about a third of what the U.S. is dealing with.
The data also points out countries that have lost the highest percentage of GDP due to tourism drops. Macau tops that list (43.1% of GDP loss), followed by Aruba (38.1%), Turks and Caicos Islands (37.8%), and Antigua and Barbuda (33.6%).
As vaccines roll out across the world and the airline industry implements changes to guarantee the safety of passengers during this unprecedented era, tourism boards are hoping to see a downward trend turn upward once more. The good news is that, although still not similar to the numbers recorded during this time last year, Americans seem to be warming up to the idea of travel once more, actually planning vacations in the last few weeks.
Below, find a list of the ten countries with the biggest tourism revenue loss due to COVID-19 around the world:
1. United States: $147.2 billion
2. Spain: $46.7 billion
3. France: $42 billion
4. Thailand: $37.5 billion
5. Germany: US$34.6 billion
6. Italy: $29.6 billion
7. United Kingdom: $27.8 billion
8: Australia: $27.2 billion
9. Japan: $26 billion
10. Hong Kong: $24 billion
Most popular on Time Out
- All international travelers will be required to present a negative COVID-19 upon U.S. entry starting January 26
- Get paid $2,000 to stay at a secluded Airbnb for 72 hours
- Travel restrictions between the United States, Canada and Mexico have just been extended through February 21, 2021
- These are the most wish-listed Airbnb stays in each U.S. state
- Here are the most popular destinations among U.S. travelers at the moment