An evaluation on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the world tourism economy

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic, which was first identified at the beginning of January 2020, is a major health crisis that has affected the whole world for more than two years. While the Covid-19 pandemic caused the biggest economic crisis of the century on a global scale, tourism is one of the sectors most negatively affected by this process. In this study, by giving general information about the Covid-19 pandemic, the effects of the pandemic on the world tourism economy were examined. Accordingly, in the study, situation of tourism before the pandemic and during the pandemic period and the effects of the pandemic on the world tourism economy were examined based on secondary data. In this context, reports, documents and previous studies on this subject were scanned with the literature review method in the study. As a result of the examination, it was determined that the Covid-19 pandemic has deeply affected the world tourism economy in the tourism seasons of 2020 and 2021. However, in this process, it was seen that countries do not want to lose their income from tourism activities due to the economy and other factors measures have been taken by supporting the tourism sector with many financial, consultancy, and supportive packages, especially taxes. Finally, it was seen that tourism professionals predicted that the year of 2022 will be the year of recovery in the tourism sector compared to the previous two years. Based on these results obtained as a result of the study and the view that 2022 will be the year of recovery in the tourism sector compared to the previous two years, inferences were made about what kind of structural changes will occur in the tourism sector. In this context, it is thought that the study will also guide tourism practitioners as well as its contribution to tourism literature.