Palestine Economy Portal

The Arab Tourism Organization warned in an official statement of the danger of the Corona virus to the tourism industry in the Arab countries as a result of the cancellation of thousands of international flights and the suspension of some tourism companies for travel insurance operations for new customers, in addition to stopping or postponing many events, programs, exhibitions and conferences worldwide.

In its statement, the organization said that the international reports issued revealed that more than 50 million employees working in the tourism sector had been threatened with suspension due to the outbreak of the Corona epidemic and its global spread.

The organization also warned of the negative impact of the virus on international tourism in general and Arabic in particular, announcing the decrease in the demand for aviation to 0.6%, after it was expected to increase by 4.8%.

The rate of tourist reservations in general has also decreased by 11% since the emergence of the virus until now. The organization pointed to the report of the International Air Transport Association "IATA" on airlines in the Middle East, which will lose about 8 billion dollars in revenue, explaining that the losses of the tourism sector worldwide amount to 90 billion dollars.

The organization, in coordination with Arab countries, proposed solutions to reduce service fees and taxes to reduce the burden on investors in the tourism industry in the Arab world, given the losses it might reach 60%, indicating that the biggest impact will be on small and medium companies that may be subject to bankruptcy.

Agencies