While the global tourism sector is strongly impacted by the current health crisis, the tourism ministers of the G20 countries pledged, Friday, April 24, to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Travel restrictions put in place to contain the pandemic have severely affected global tourism, which is expected to drop 45% this year, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Tourism ministers from G20 countries have pledged to ensure that "the lifting of travel restrictions is coordinated", as many countries seek to ease containment, and "support the economic recovery" of the tourism sector.

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"We are committed to helping businesses, entrepreneurs and workers in the tourism sector (...) to adapt and prosper during a new post-crisis era," the ministers said in a joint statement following a virtual meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia, who currently chairs the G20.  

Up to 75 million jobs in this sector are threatened, the group added, referring to figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council.

The example of Saudi Arabia hit hard

Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed al-Khatib said he hoped the impact of the pandemic would only be felt in the "short term". "The sites are still there, the hotels still there, the restaurants still there, awaiting the return of visitors," he said, referring to a possible revival of tourism, an emerging sector in his country.

Tourism in Saudi Arabia is hit hard, just months after the kingdom launched the tourist visa issue last September, hoping to welcome 100 million visitors by 2030.

The kingdom has spent billions of dollars on tourism, one of the potential sources of revenue to which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to redirect the Saudi economy to shed dependence on oil. 

Saudi Arabia spent more than 500 million riyals (123 million euros) to quarantine thousands of people returning from abroad to hotels, said Ahmed al-Khatib. The government has rented "entire hotels" for three or four months, the minister added, temporarily helping the area. 

With AFP

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