The collapse of tourism costs Asian countries 1.6 million jobs Business and Economics

Nearly a third of job losses in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei and Mongolia were in tourism, the report says.

Hwaseong, South Korea – The collapse of tourism as a result of the pandemic wiped out 1.6 million jobs in five Asian countries alone last year, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Nearly a third of all job losses in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei and Mongolia have occurred in the tourism sector, according to a report released by the United Nations on Thursday.

Tourism-related job losses were four times higher than those in other industries, according to the report, which hit women particularly hard.

Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa, the ILO’s director for Asia and the Pacific region, said the impact of COVID-19 on tourism in the region is “nothing but a disaster”.

“While countries in the region are paying close attention to vaccines and designing strategies to slowly reopen borders, it is likely that jobs and working hours in the tourism-related sector will remain below pre-crisis numbers in Asia-Pacific countries next year,” Asada-Miyakawa said.

According to the report, Brunei had the largest decline in employment, falling by 40 per cent, and average working hours by 21 per cent.

In the Philippines, tourism-related employment fell by 28 percent, and average hours fell by 38 percent. In Vietnam, the average wage in the sector fell by 18% overall, and by 28% for women.

Thailand, which generated about 20% of GDP before tourism before the pandemic, saw average wages fall by 9.5%.

In Mongolia, employment and average hours fell by 17 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

Since September, the number of arrivals in most of Asia has fallen by 99 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to data from Capital Economics, with 20 percent in Mexico and about 65 percent in Southern Europe.

About 291 million tourists visited Asia-Pacific in 2019, contributing about $ 875 million to the economy, according to data from the World Economic Forum.

Sara Elder, the ILO’s chief economist and author of the report, said the crisis and the possibility of a slow recovery in the short term would force tourism-dependent countries to explore ways to diversify their economies.

“Recovery will take time and affected workers and tourism sector companies will continue to seek help to replace lost revenue and care for assets,” Elder said. “Governments should continue to implement support measures, while trying to vaccinate all residents, including migrant workers.”