IMPACT ON AVIATIONAirlines won’t benefit from reduced fuel costs as they either dramatically reduce operations or ground fleets entirely because of the COVID-19 travel bans. But “travel and tourism is uniquely exposed”, warns the CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, Gloria Guevara. In the Middle East, Travel & Tourism sustained a total of 5.4 million direct, indirect, and induced jobs in 2018. Saudi Arabia, MENA’s largest destination, accounts for about one-fifth of the $92 billion regional Travel & Tourism GDP. With the pandemic closing tourist sites, whole borders and even limiting domestic movement in some countries, tourism is guaranteed to suffer significantly.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 23, 2020 02:48 UTC