THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON THE TOURISM BUSINESS

Abstract

If Pandemic has had an impact on any business it’s primarily a tourism business. Other businesses have a very close relation with this business and therefore they have been affected as well. As you know, the world travel and tourism market is expected to have lost more than 75.2 million jobs by 2020. According to the UNWTO, small and medium-sized enterprises were most affected. Their share in the tourism sector is 80%. Coronavirus will have a special impact on the countries whose economy accounts for a large share of tourism and whose economic growth is largely due to the tourism sector, and Georgia is also among them. According to the Georgian government, Georgia will develop the tourism sector in the near future, of course, in compliance with the safety standard and taking into account the recommendations. Tourism is the sector that has received the hardest and first blow due to the crisis and which, in addition to being one of the most important driving forces of the country's economy in recent years, the sector has a competitive advantage that can contribute to the economic development of Georgia in the post-crisis pandemic economy. Tourism is one of the largest spheres in the world, and its development is conditioned by the safe environment of the country, economic and political stability. It creates jobs and helps increase incomes for the population. International tourism contributes to the inflow of foreign currency into the country and affects the social and cultural environment of the country. That is why it is important to bring the tourism business out of the crisis.