COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and looming risks for tourism's recovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have had significant negative impacts on the recovery of the tourism industry. The pandemic caused a global decrease in GDP and led to disruptions in supply chains and high unemployment, particularly in the tourism sector. Countries heavily reliant on tourism, such as France, Italy, and Spain, experienced substantial GDP losses. The pandemic also highlighted the importance of sectoral diversity in mitigating economic downturns. However, despite some recovery in the world economy, tourism has been slow to rebound, with rising prices, transportation costs, and weak consumer confidence hindering demand. Additionally, labor shortages and disruptions in the global supply chain further impact international tourism numbers. The war in Ukraine has added to the challenges, contributing to geopolitical tensions and increasing inflation rates. These factors, along with uncertainties in monetary policy, China's economic decline, fragmentation of the world economy, new variants of the COVID-19 virus, and global distribution problems of vaccines, pose risks to the recovery of the tourism industry. Measures to address these challenges include redistributing net tax income, balancing increased costs with transfer payments, offering interest-free loans or subsidies, and integrating tourism into national disaster management plans. [Extracted from the article]