After the Covid crisis, the new challenges of global tourism

In 2022, international tourists were more than 900 million (twice as many as in 2021 but still at 63% of pre-pandemic levels). © MLADEN ANTONOV / AFP

Text by: Anne Bernas Follow

6 min

Wars, uprisings, inflation, climate change, Covid, all these global events have more or less significant repercussions on the daily lives of some 7.9 billion Earthlings. And the tourism sector is not left out.

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The page of the global health crisis of Covid, which has literally weighed down world tourism, is not yet fully turned that already a new drama has come to thwart for a year the field of tourism: the war in Ukraine and its multiple consequences.

It is early to assess the impact of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine, but this poses a major risk to international tourism that could delay the sector's already weak and uneven recovery, according to the World Tourism Organization. In 2022, international tourists were more than 900 million (twice as many as in 2021 but still at 63% of pre-pandemic levels).

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From the beginning of the war, immediately, the day after the Russian declaration, reluctance appeared among French tourists. " says Marianne Chandernagor, director of the World Tourism Fair currently taking place in Paris. A concern that seems, with time and the durability of the conflict, to have dissipated somewhat, even if the agencies offering trips to Russia or Ukraine are no longer present this year in the corridors of the show. "There was a halt in bookings," continues Marianne Chandernagor, "even to destinations far from the war zone.

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In Romania, even on the Ukrainian border, there is no visible impact of the conflict. But there is still some fear and cancellations from foreign tourists," says Mihaela Mihet, head of the Romanian Tourist Board in France.

Crises to overcome

And the same goes for Iran. The destination, very popular six months ago, is now shunned by tourists following the popular anti-government uprising caused by the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 and the ferocious repression that continues. But tour operators anticipate and learn to diversify. "We had to stop our four travel offers in Russia," says one of the members of the Tirawa agency, which specializes in adventure travel, "but above all, for several years we have had to stop Syria and Yemen, tourist hotspots, and in recent months have stopped offering Peru as a destination since the country is shaken by an unprecedented political crisis.

In order not to sink, agencies must therefore expand their range of destinations so as not to be trapped in a sudden conflict or climate catastrophe. Not to mention taking into account the cost of these trips. And the Tirawa agency explains that sales for Central Asia have dropped drastically because of the increase in flight prices; it is now impossible to fly over Russia and Ukraine and the travel time to reach the countries of Central Asia has increased considerably.

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The situation is politically stable in our region, but tourists are very afraid to fly and pass not far from the war zone," laments the manager of the Zamin Travel Uzbekistan stand. "It's a little better today, people are getting used to the war, but it's still hard to reassure them, even if our flights no longer go through Moscow, but through Istanbul.

If tourists desert Russia and Ukraine, Russians no longer go on holiday in a number of countries, to the chagrin of some regions such as Turkey, but also the Côte d'Azur, where the economic impact is greatly felt. Now, because of the sanctions, the Russians are flying to Mongolia, the Maldives or the Seychelles. By 2019, Russian spending on international travel had reached $36 billion. "In addition, because of Covid, but also the war, many Chinese or Japanese tourists travel less and less," says the director of the World Tourism Fair. The reasons are therefore health, geopolitical, but also climatic, she explains.

Travel and protect the planet...

The fashion today is ecotourism, eco-responsible travel, fair travel benefiting both local populations and the natural and cultural resources of the country. And in the aisles of the show, stands advocating this new kind of tourism are flourishing, because "nature" destinations are now the most in demand. It is therefore time to travel while taking care of the planet, less often, but longer. Two people making the Europe-United States round trip contribute as much to climate change as the average gas and electricity consumption of a household over a whole year, a fact that makes more than one think.

Indeed, tourism is responsible for 8% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, according to a study published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change. If the main poles of pollution are air travel (<>/<> of the greenhouse gas emissions of the tourism sector come from transport), food and accommodation must also be taken into account.

And travelers are now called upon to wonder how to compensate for their footprint. To do this, they can now finance a project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or carbon sequestration (reforestation project, development of renewable energies, improvement of waste management, etc.).

However, the first criterion of a trip remains the budget, followed most often by security. "When tourists are asked where the environmental problem lies in their choice of holidays, more and more of them admit to taking it into account in their decision," explains Marianne Chandernagor who nevertheless wants to put a caveat: the gap between the wish and the practice persists. Tourists want to protect the planet, but above all they want to travel.

Optimism remains the order of the day

And "today, the craze is gone, like an impression that we 'make with'", continues Marianne Chandernagor. "Tourism is doing well, actually. We thought we would have to live a revolution of uses with all the crises, but in fact not. There is like a real desire for revenge on the part of travelers. And Marianne Chandernagor notes that bookings for 2023 even exceed those of 2019, despite the soaring inflation. Because travel remains for everyone a way to escape, and not only physically.

According to UNWTO's forward-looking scenarios for 2023, international tourist arrivals could reach 80% to 95% of their pre-pandemic levels this year, depending on the extent of the economic slowdown, the ongoing resumption of Asia-Pacific travel and the evolution of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

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