Bregu: Tourism in the Western Balkans already feels the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - „As this pandemic has confined billions of people to their homes, one sector is already feeling the blow, and that is tourism. One in five booked trips to the Western Balkans planned in 2020 has been cancelled. And this makes the situation extremely difficult, because we know that tourism contributes 10.2 percent to the region's GDP, while 11.4 percent of all employees are in the tourism and travel sector, which means that a decline in employment in this sector will soon become a fact,“ said the Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Majlinda Bregu, on the occasion of the International Day for Monuments and Sites, which marks the tourism sector. 

The tourism development and promotion project, implemented by the Regional Cooperation Council and funded by the European Union, conducted a survey of travel agencies and tour operators from the Western Balkans, which will soon be available. Preliminary results show that 42 percent of travel agencies and tour operators have already started cutting costs and laying off some workers. About 20 percent of them have already ceased operations, while 41 percent have enough resources to maintain normal operations for only three months. 

Given that they would struggle to cope with such circumstances on their own, 72 percent of agencies and operators in the tourism sector in the region expect support from their governments to continue operating once the lockdown caused by the spread of the COVID-19 virus ends.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is enormous worldwide, and the World Tourism Organization estimates that international arrivals worldwide could decline by 20, or even 30 percent in 2020, meaning the sector could „lose“ about 7 years of its growth, given that at the European level it is losing one billion per month.

„What will the authorities do to mitigate the negative impact of the crisis, support tourism and attract visitors to our region? Will financial aid be sufficient? How much can tax relief ease the difficulties? What can we do to make it easier for them? The region needs more tourists. What about the visa facilitation system or visa-free travel within the Western Balkans? Can we start with ourselves? We can appeal for everyone to now unite on a single front to limit the unprecedented loss of tourism revenue. Let's start advertising and promoting new ideas to save the sector,“ Bregu concludes.