The number of destinations closed to international tourism has continued to fall as 70 percent of the global tourism sites have eased restrictions on travel, the United Nations World Travel Organization (UNWTO) said in its latest report.
Launched by the UN organization at the start of the pandemic, the Travel Restrictions Report said a total of 152 destinations have now eased restrictions on international tourism out of the 217 destinations worldwide that are being monitored. At the same time, 59 destinations have kept their borders closed to tourists.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said in a statement that the lifting of travel restrictions is essential to drive the sector’s wider recovery from the social and economic impacts of the pandemic.
“The lifting of travel restrictions is essential to drive our wider recovery from the social and economic impacts of the pandemic. Governments have an important part to play in giving data-led and responsible travel advice and in working together to lift restrictions as soon as it is safe to do so,” he said.
The report also said that destinations with higher scores in health and hygiene indicators as well as on the environmental performance index are among those that have eased restrictions faster. These destinations are increasingly applying differentiated, risk-based approaches to implementing travel restrictions.
In comparison, destinations choosing to keep their borders closed tend to be within emerging economies with relatively low scores in health and hygiene indicators and environmental performance index. The majority of these destinations are in Asia and the Pacific, with many belonging to the SIDS (Small Island Developing States), LDCs (Least Developed Countries) or LLDCs (Landlocked Developing Countries).
On the regional level, Europe continues to lead the way in lifting or easing travel restrictions followed by the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. While Asia and the Pacific continues to be the region with the fewest travel restrictions eased and more complete border closures in place for international tourism.
The report also highlighted the important role governments can play in restarting tourism.
Out of the ten biggest tourism source markets, four destinations, representing 19 percent of all outbound trips in 2018, have issued guidance advising against all non-essential international travel. The other six, which represents 30 percent of all outbound trips in 2018, however, have issued more nuanced travel advisories, basing their guidance on evidence-based risk assessments.