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Tourism is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries and a major foreign exchange and employment generation for many countries. It is one of the most remarkable economic and social phenomena.

The world ‘tour’ is derived from the Latin word tornus, meaning ‘a tool for making a circle’. Tourism may be defined as the movement of the people from their normal place of residence to another place ( with the intention to return) for a minimum period of twenty-four hours to a maximum of six months for the sole purpose of leisure and pleasure.

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Tourism has two types and many forms on the bases of the purpose of visit and alternative forms of tourism.
Tourism can be categorized as INTERNATIONAL and DOMESTIC TOURISM.

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International tourism refers to tourism that crosses national borders.
The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".

When people visit a foreign country, it is referred to as International Tourism. In order to travel to a foreign country, one needs a valid passport, visa, health documents, foreign exchange, etc.

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This refers to tourists of outside origin entering a particular country. When people travel outside their host/native country to another country, then it is called inbound tourism for that country where he/she is traveling.

For example when a tourist from Indian origin travels to Japan then it is  Inbound tourism for Japan because foreign tourist comes to Japan.

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This refers to tourists traveling from the country of their origin to another country. When tourists travel a foreign region than it is outbound tourism for his own country because he/she is going outside their country. For example when a tourist from India travel to Japan then it is outbound tourism for India and Inbound tourism for Japan.

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How Important Is International Tourism To The Global Economy?

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How Important Is International Tourism To The Global Economy?

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James Reilly (Schroeders) | Governments globally have been introducing new restrictions on tourism, with the UK government the latest to follow suit by bringing in new quarantine rules requiring most people arriving in the UK to self-isolate for two weeks.

Although potential ‘travel corridors’ or ‘air bridges’ are still being considered for countries perceived as having lower risk of Covid-19, this was a further blow to the floundering tourism industry.

Airlines and travel companies struggling for their very survival have roundly criticised the new rules as we move into the traditional summer holiday season.

What could a collapse in tourism mean to the global economy?

Tourism contributed 10.4% to global GDP in 2018; however, with many countries worldwide currently operating travel restrictions, the sector is now facing serious challenges.

Scenarios produced by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation(UNWTO) point to a decline in international tourist journeys of between 58% and 78% for 2020. Such an outcome could potentially see 100-120 million direct tourism jobs at risk in what is one of the most labour-intensive sectors of the global economy.

What could be the impact on various different economies?

Here we look at international tourism, which is more vulnerable than domestic tourism to the challenges of Covid-19.

The UNWTO analyses data on ‘the share of international guests at all commercial establishments’ to estimate the contribution of international tourism to overall tourism in a specific country. This metric ranges from 98% in Liechtenstein and Monaco, for example, to just 11% in Australia.

By combining this measure with tourism’s total contribution to GDP, we can estimate a country’s exposure to international tourism. Given that a quick analysis of tourism as both a share of GDP and of total employment reveals a very strong relationship, this can be seen as a good indicator for the impact on employment too.

The international tourism column in our table below aims to only capture that portion of GDP generated by international tourism and, in doing so, highlight those economies most vulnerable to a downturn.

However, this does not factor in the benefit that may arise from the ‘on-shoring’ of expenditures that are no longer spent abroad. Using international receipts minus expenditures, we can arrive at a net flow from international tourism.

By stacking this up against total GDP, the net impact of international tourism on an economy can be assessed. Those regions currently enjoying positive flows (such as Spain) would essentially suffer in a world bereft of international tourism.