THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF PANDEMICS ON THE TOURISM SECTOR AND SOLUTION WAYS

Abstract

  The paper describes the situation in the tourism sector due to the pandemic crisis. The root causes for the fall in the
tourism business are learned and analyzed. The specific ways and recommendations are given for overcoming crisis and supporting
positive trends in the sector.
  The tourist Industry is a fast-growing sector in almost every country of the world. A safe environment, domestic stability, proper
level of economic development, etc. are the pre-conditions for sector development.
  Tourism itself supports creating new jobs, increasing income, diversifying the economy, protecting the environment, approximating
the cultures, etc.
  Tourism has a growing tendency in Georgia, reflecting in a significant increase of foreign visitors and accordingly, growth of the
sector share in the revenues of a state budget. Though considering the situation in the world, meaning the global pandemics COVID
19, the problems were noticeable in Georgia too. The share of the tourism industry in the country’s GDP was 11% but due to pandemics
the number of visitors dramatically decreased, followed by the closure of the country and internal strict regulations causing
paralyzing of entire tourist infrastructure. The following data demonstrates the situation better, in 2019 the income from tourism
was USD 3.5 billion, while 170 thousand people were employed in the sector. The pandemic crisis caused the loss of 30 million GEL
per month. In general, the tourism market lost about 75.2 million jobs throughout the entire world.
  The tourist agencies, guest houses, catering services, and freelancer guides, etc. were mostly affected by the pandemic.
The reduction of the travelers' flow by 50% left thousands of people without income. Moreover, the crisis in the tourism sector affected
other fields of economy, though the most significant was a decrease of currency income.
  Since 2021 positive trends are noticeable in reviving the tourism industry, for instance, according to the National Tourism
Agency, in April 2021 the number of foreign visitors increased by 140,4 % in Georgia, while it increased by 222,8 % in May
and reached 172,333 people.
  It is a fact that the calculation of the losses caused by the global pandemics and recovery will take a long time for Georgian
businesses. Currently, the most important thing is to avoid the replication of past mistakes, like the introduction of ungrounded, economically
unjustified lockdowns. The pandemic management methods and approaches should be improved significantly and even more, it has
to be changed totally, the low rate of vaccination in the country has to be raised as well.
  The stability of the political situation is very important, as political stability is a crucial factor in the development of tourism.
  The introduction of tourism-supporting state policy is important, which should create a strong ground for developing tour operators
and other agents of the tourist industry, the affords for fundraising, and attracting highly qualified human resources have to be intensified
and the control of efficient and targeted appliance of the investment resources has to become stricter, which will increase the quality
of the touristic services.