Job losses, fall in air traffic, a shortfall that amounts to billions of dollars ... Because of the coronavirus, the tourism sector is suffering and no country is spared.

Europe 1 takes stock on Tuesday on the situation in the Caribbean and Thailand where tourism, the main source of income, is dying.

REPORTAGE

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, tens of millions of people have lost their jobs around the world.

And while the pandemic lasts, it continues to penalize the global economy.

Last year, the airline industry experienced a -74% drop in traffic.

Europe 1 takes stock of the impact of the coronavirus on tourism in the Caribbean, but also in Thailand, two particularly affected areas.

>> Find the morning show of the day in replay and podcast here

60% less revenue for the Caribbean

The whole world is suffering.

In the Caribbean, the losses are colossal: 28 billion dollars in shortfall, 60% less income for their economy, and one in four jobs that have disappeared.

The Caribbean takes the hit.

Usually very popular with wealthy clients who spend lavishly, these small island states and their small population cannot count on locals to bring in a little agent.

The first affected are women, who occupy 54% of jobs in the world.

Often low-skilled jobs that allowed them to integrate and gain autonomy.

>> LIVE -

Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Monday April 27

In Thailand, the distress of boat drivers

This phenomenon is also illustrated in Thailand, where all employees have returned home. So much so that the island of Koh Phi Phi, very touristy, has become almost deserted. Sitting on the steps at the end of the pier, the boat drivers, the only means of transport on the island, watch for the arrival of tourists. But in the absence of international visitors this year, many have left the islands to resume their traditional way of life, that of the nomads of the sea.

According to one of them, interviewed by Europe 1, it is impossible for many to return to this life before.

"They took to the sea and left where they came from. They live from hand to mouth, catch fish and shrimp to survive," he explains.

"In the first wave of Covid, we were hopeful that everything would go back to how it was before, but now we understand that many are just not going to survive."

CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS

> Covid-19: is there really a risk of contamination outside?

> Coronavirus: why can a PCR test be positive one month after infection?

> Are private parties really prohibited with the curfew?

> The English variant would cause slightly different symptoms

> Audio, webcams ... When technology adapts to teleworking

How to get out of the deadlock?

The islands of southern Thailand have therefore lost the majority of their population, restaurants are closed, streets deserted and vegetation is gaining ground on abandoned bungalows.

A government plan plans to open the island of Phuket to vaccinated tourists, without quarantine, from next July.

But the new wave of coronavirus that is sweeping the country today is jeopardizing the project.

To get by, the professionals of the sector ask that we stop reasoning in "countries at risk" and that we stop banning the arrival of nationals of such or such country. Finally, they demand the establishment of the vaccine passport, the ultimate means, according to them, to gradually restart the pump of tourism.