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Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
COVID-19 changed our world

during the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly accelerating Thus, China’s tourism industry was extremely affected
the transition toward the digitalization of commerce (Fetzer by the COVID-19 outbreak in the nation (Hoque et al.,
et al., 2020). Studies identified e-commerce as a dependent 2020). The tourism bureau of the Chinese government
variable because the declines or increases in the demand reported that the country alone brought in about
for online platforms were influenced largely by the global $127.3 billion in 2019 (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/
spread of the virus and the individual behaviors resulting articles/2020-02-13/coronavirus-s-effect-on-tourism-will-
from the pandemic (Ahmad & Hui, 2020). In addition, carry-into-2021-experts-say), and the major detrimental
these two variables; the steady growth of Internet users effect to the industry resulted from the rate of cancellations
worldwide and growing awareness of online shopping of travel and tourism agreements between China and other
increased general interest in web-based business markets Asian countries (Chen et al., 2018; Hoque et al., 2020).
and were considered reasons for individual shifts toward Research conducted by the World Travel and Tourism
web-based businesses (Li & Li, 2020). Council (WTTC) revealed that up to 75 million jobs would
immediately be placed at risk because of COVID-19. The
4.5. Impact of COVID-19 on travel and tourism
WTTC believed that the global effects of the Coronavirus
Traveling is one of the best ways of meeting new people pandemic would result in the daily loss of 1 million jobs
and discovering new destinations, provided journeys are in the travel and tourism sector. According to the WTTC’s
free from incidences of illnesses, crimes, and disasters. projections, as many as 75 million people worldwide faced
Of course, the chances of such adverse occurrences are the prospect of losing their employment and the gross
quite slim, and generally, such risks can be minimized or domestic product (GDP) of the travel and tourism sector
eliminated with accurate knowledge. Thus, travel journals would suffer a loss of $ 2.1 trillion by 2020. Thus, research
are filled with unforgettable memories. A pandemic findings indicated that the impact of the pandemic would
or epidemic is one of the most terrifying situations for be adverse, considerable, and substantial (Mao et al.,
travel-related organizers or planners, and such situations 2010). Chinese consumption would not represent the only
can render disease prevention difficult or impossible. factor to adversely impact the tourism economy; rather,
Pandemics are transported between locations by travelers; country-specific effects would accrue as the virus spread
thus, travelers risk contracting COVID-19 and infecting outside of China. According to the pessimistic projections
others who come into contact with them on their journeys of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
(Hollingsworth et al., 2006). Development (OECD), global GDP expansion would
decrease by 1.5% in 2020, with a 3.75% drop in world trade
Travel-related infections have a long history. For volumes. Other forecasts also posited dramatic outcomes
example, almost 66% of around 8000 people infected (McKibbin & Fernando, 2020).
with the SARS virus infection between November 2002
and June 2003 lived in China, and 5% resided in Hong 4.6. COVID-19 and financial losses
Kong (Mackey & Liang, 2012). However, numerous A nation is built by its people, and countries develop
other nations were also affected worldwide. The advent because of their economies, which depend on their
of the COVID-19 infection exerted a significant citizens. However, as previously discussed, the world’s
negative impact on the activities of diverse industries, political, religious, economic, social, and financial systems
including tourism. Scrutiny of the effects of the spread changed drastically because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
of the virus in the early stages of infection (regardless of Therefore, the governments of different nations announced
official quarantine restrictions) would probably yield a lockdowns to limit the exposure, restricting human
significant drop in “social ingestion,” which encompasses movement (Kishore et al., 2021). However, lockdowns
dining out, domestic travel, attending cultural events, became a negative variable that decreased the GDP of
participating in trade shows, etc. (Hasanat et al., 2020). discrete nations. Research has shown that countries with
It is widely known that the tourist sector substantively quarantine lockdowns officially confirmed that day (i.e.,
boosts the economy of nations (Do Valle et al., 2006), Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Italy, and Spain) were hit
and China’s inbound and outbound tourism markets are harder by the financial markets than nations with a lower
considered among the world’s most popular. The Chinese debt-to-GDP ratio, despite both falling by nearly 15%
tourism industry contributes the largest proportion of the after the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic (Iglesias,
country’s revenue from domestic trips, which account for 2022). It was found that longer-term lockdowns hampered
around CN¥ 5,128 billion in annual revenue for China GDP growth: the average contraction of GDP (index
(https://asianjournals.org/online/index.php/ajms/article/ 2010 = 100) from the second quarter of 2019 to the second
view/213/96). quarter of 2020 in countries imposing longer lockdowns

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 50 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3992