The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has urged governments to prevent “a catastrophic collapse” in the travel and tourism industry following the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, routesonline.com reports.
The call comes as G20 leaders meet in Saudi Arabia today to discuss the pandemic.
WTTC implored the leaders to assign resources and coordinate efforts to rescue major travel businesses such as airlines, cruises, GDS, hotels, and technology companies.
The organization underlined that one million jobs are being lost each day in the sector and the GDP loss to the world economy could be up to $2.1 trillion in 2020.
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“The number of jobs now at risk in the global travel and tourism sector is a staggering 75 million, bringing real and profound worry to millions of families around the world,” WTTC president and CEO Gloria Guevara noted.
“This chilling new figure also represents the collective delay by many governments around the world to react quickly enough to come to the aid of a sector which is the backbone of the global economy.
Read more: Tornos
