QCOSTARICA – The world faces a fourth pandemic wave and this will delay tourism recovery until 2023, despite the return of airlines and the increase in the number of flights.
The figures reported at this time are still much lower than those that were before Covid-19.
The increase in mass vaccination reduces the risks, however, there are still many minors who are not vaccinated. Furthermore, it remains to be debated whether people over the age of 18 should receive a third booster shot.
“As of October, we are 53% below the levels of 2019, in terms of international arrivals by air, really, a total recovery by 2022 is an unexpected scenario. We know that the recovery will be gradual and it will not be until 2024 when pre-pandemic levels are reached and this is confirmed by global projections,” said Shirley Calvo, executive director of Canatur.
Tourism mobilizes many sectors of the economy such as hotels, restaurants, tour operators, vehicle rental and the recovery is comprehensive.
These subsectors will have a slower recovery – according to Canatur – with the arrival of foreign tourists, but there could be greater dynamism due to local tourism, although many businesses have not yet reached a point of equilibrium.
The recovery started for the sector in June and July 2021, when travel restrictions were eliminated and vaccination against Covid-19 advanced in many parts of the world.
The drop in tourism also has a direct effect on the international monetary reserves of the Central Bank as it is the main activity that generates foreign exchange, explained Greivin Salazar, an economist at the Economic and Social Observatory (OES) of the School of Economics of the Universidad Nacional (UNA).
“Income remains well below the previous levels of the pandemic and although a higher influx of tourists is reported, it is still far from the full recovery of the sector, which is unlikely to happen in 2022, especially considering the effects of the fourth pandemic wave in the developed world,” he stressed.
At the end of the year, tourist arrivals to reach 1.6 million visitors.
In these two years, about 200,000 jobs were affected and that is why the businessmen’s request is clear so that the QR code is not implemented as a requirement so that the sector continues to recover.
Tourism joins other activities hit by the pandemic and whose jobs are not completely recovering, such as retail, construction and entertainment.
