The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the tourism industry across Europe, as the number of nights booked by tourists in hotels and other accommodations dropped by 52% in 2020 compared to the previous year, the EU statistical office, Eurostat, said on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2021) The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the tourism industry across Europe, as the number of nights booked by tourists in hotels and other accommodations dropped by 52% in 2020 compared to the previous year, the EU statistical office, Eurostat, said on Tuesday.
In an attempt to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, European countries have taken various measures, including lockdowns and restrictions on air traffic since the pandemic began.
"In 2020, the tourism industry suffered from the COVID-19 outbreak: the number of nights spent at EU tourist accommodation establishments dropped by 52% in 2020 compared with 2019," Eurostat said in a press release.
There was a sharp decline between April and June 2020 due to travel restrictions and other preventative measures taken in response to the pandemic; as a result, April and May accounted for less than 3% of all tourism nights in 2020, whereas they accounted for 15% in 2019.
As COVID-19 restrictions are eased in most countries, the peak summer months, July and August, accounted for 42% of all nights spent in tourist accommodation in 2020, compared with 32% in 2019.
Europe remains one of the worst-hit regions by the pandemic. The region has recorded over 54,288,000 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
