Coronavirus ‘risks up to 50M travel, tourism jobs’

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Coronavirus puts up to 50 million travel and tourism jobs at risk, an industry group predicted on Friday.

International travel will shrink by 25% this year, equivalent to a loss of three months of global travel, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) said in a statement.

The group called on governments to take a series of measures to enable the swift recovery of the sector such as improving travel facilitation, removing barriers, easing fiscal policies, introducing incentives and supporting destinations.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the virus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 123 countries and territories.

The global death toll is now nearly 5,000, with more than 132,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization, which has declared the outbreak a “global pandemic.”