COVID-19: Global tourism and hospitality sector supports

January 2021 update

02/02/2021
Industry report outlining the country-specific assistance benefiting the tourism and hospitality sector - January 2021 update.

The global economy is under enormous strain as it deals with the fallout from the COVID-19 virus. All industries and sectors are affected, but none more so than hospitality.

By its very nature, the hospitality business is entirely dependent on the movement of people and a fall-off in demand of this magnitude has never been experienced before. Hotels, restaurants, airlines, resorts, bars and all other businesses related to travel and tourism have come to a grinding halt.

What is positive about this crisis is that for the first-time travel and tourism has been named specifically as an industry that is vital in any functioning economy and in fact many economies derive a considerable amount, if not the majority of their GDP from travel and tourism related activities.

Many governments recognise this and have put extraordinary measures in place to try and protect these businesses. There is a recognition that, certainly in the short term, these businesses need to be mothballed and supported as opposed to being closed down. This makes very good business sense as the expense and time spent ramping these businesses back up to efficient levels is a lot more expensive. This of course is predicated on the exceptional circumstances lasting around three months as opposed to 6 months or longer.

It will come as no surprise of course to see that some governments are more supportive than others. This is for a variety of reasons, not least of which some countries are unable to afford the levels of support required.

We decided to start collating these industry support measurements on a country-by-country basis so that we can create a best practice benchmark that shows the different approaches. We have made a comparative compilation of benefits extended by several nations for the hotel sector, and for tourism. The compilation will be updated for information from other countries as sector specific information becomes available.

Horwath Hotel Tourism and Leisure (HTL)
We are members of Horwath HTL, the world’s number one hotel, tourism and leisure consulting organisation. The Horwath HTL network comprises of over 50 offices in 39 countries and provides solutions through a combination of international experience and expert local knowledge.

With over 75 years’ experience in the Irish hospitality industry, Crowe’s dedicated hotel, tourism and leisure team is uniquely qualified to offer financial, operational and strategic support to help hospitality business face the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 crisis. To find out how we can help your business, contact a member of our hotel, tourism and leisure team.
Global COVID-19 tourism supports january 2021 report cover
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Naoise Cosgrove, Managing partner - Crowe Ireland
Naoise Cosgrove
Managing Partner
Corporate Finance
Partner, Corporate Recovery - Crowe Ireland
Aiden Murphy
Partner
Corporate Recovery
Clodagh O'Brien, Partner, Consulting - Crowe Ireland
Clodagh O'Brien
Partner, Consulting