According to a study by Oxford study Economics on the impacts of Covid-19 on European tourism, which the Lusa agency had access to and which is dated at the beginning of the month of April, Portugal can expect seven million fewer international tourists this year, in comparison to 2019, the equivalent of a 40 percent drop.
In percentage terms, Portugal is only surpassed in the reduction of visitors by Italy (with a decrease of 49 percent, minus 31 million visitors) and by Spain (decrease of 42 percent, minus 34 million visitors), which are the most affected by the pandemic, either in number of deaths or cases.
In terms of volume, the member state with the greatest drop in international tourist arrivals, according to the analysis by Oxford Economics, is France, with a drop of 40 percent, equivalent to 38 million fewer visitors compared to 2019.
France alone, which is also being heavily affected by Covid-19, accounts for around 13 percent of international inflows across Europe.
Together with Italy and Spain, Portugal is one of the countries where the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) most depends on tourism, a total of 16.5 percent according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Another European member state very dependent on tourism is Greece, where, according to Oxford Economics, the drop in the number of arrivals is 36 percent, equivalent to 11 million less.
Southern Europe is the region most affected by the decline in international tourism, dropping altogether 40 percent in 2020, after a 5 percent growth in 2019.
The British consultant notes in this analysis, the most recent for European tourism, that “even in cases where the number of cases (of Covid-19) in a country is relatively low, similar restrictions on travel and movement tend to exist”, which justifies these sharp falls.
Assuming that Covid-19 affects European tourism for eight months (February to September), between times of confinement and phased lifting of restrictions, this entity estimates a 39 percent drop in tourism travel across Europe in 2020, compared to the same period last year, equivalent to less 287 million international arrivals.
Still, Oxford Economics notes that “the potential duration of travel bans is still quite uncertain”, so the numbers could change and even get worse if “travel restrictions continue during the peak of the tourist season”, that is, July and August.
And, “although a rapid recovery is expected in 2021, the levels of international travel registered in 2019 are not expected to be restored before 2023, since the prolonged effects on incomes are reflected” in tourist movements, notes this entity.
With regard to domestic travel, “they will also fall [in 2020], but no more than international travel”, estimates Oxford Economics, justifying that the restrictions applied here should “be lifted earlier”.
For Europe as a whole, the expected reduction in domestic tourist movements in the region this year is 23 percent, being more pronounced in southern Europe (-24 percent) and western Europe (also -24 percent) and less evident in central Europe (-20 percent), concludes the study.