After almost two dreadful years of strict lockdown restrictions, the world tourism industry was all set to embark on the revival journey. Tour operators, hospitality industry runners, and airlines mainly were expecting to experience green shoots, especially in the upcoming spring and summer season. However, the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed the course of action.
Interconnectedness of socio-political & economic parameters
It is interesting to see how one occurrence in either part of the world can impact the entire global economy in just a matter of hours. As Russia announced to invade Ukraine, we saw how stocks in most countries plunged at a significant rate. So, when there are pros of interdependency, there are massive cons as well.
So, how could the world tourism industry escape the heavy blow of the Russia-Ukraine war? The timing is indeed unfortunate as this was supposed to be the period for the world tourism sector to embark on a journey of full-fledged recovery from the shackles of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On that note, let’s see in-depth how the war is impacting the travel sector.
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Russia-Ukraine war impact on tourism
After the heavy blow of the pandemic, travellers were finally looking forward to international tourism. Mostly European tour operations were getting bookings for the upcoming spring and summer season. However, with the invasion of Ukraine, travel is becoming messy.
Thousands of tourists are now rethinking their international and mainly European travel plans for the upcoming weeks. The Federal Aviation Administration has declared Eastern Europe a non-fly-zone for the US carriers. Additionally, after Britain banned Russian Aeroflot flights to the UK, Russia banned all Britain flights from its airspace.
So, the flights are now being rerouted through other countries. However, the International Air Transport Association has warned that any further blockage may impact air travel to a higher degree.
Several tour operators have reported that they were experiencing a surge in bookings for international tourism. However, as soon as the news of Russia invading Ukraine flashed the news channels, the demand for tourism immediately saw a plunge.
Tourism wouldn’t be affected only in Europe but in other parts of the world as well. The Middle East welcomes thousands of Russian tourists every year. Russians are luxury tourists, according to the Middle East travel agencies. Thus, as the borders reopened, the Middle East hoped to welcome Russians in their homeland. However, that seems a tricky task now.
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Conclusively, the Russia-Ukraine war will significantly impact tourism if the war scales any further. How much would the tourism industry suffer? – it is too soon to decipher. However, it is clear that aviation, travel operators, and aviation will suffer from the escalating crisis.
SOURCE: KALKINE MEDIA
