Tourism sector in Italy and Portugal – Some impacts of Covid-19 pandemic crisis

Abstract

This article intends to carry out a brief characterization of the tourism sector in Italy and Portugal, taking into account the years prior to the pandemic crisis and reflecting on some impacts already visible in the sector. The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has severely affected the world economy, but the tourism sector has been - and will continue to be - particularly affected. Any pandemic crisis has a social, political and economic impact. Any pandemic crisis has a social, political and economic impact. In these two countries, the impacts were overwhelming, due to the high contribution of tourism to gross domestic product (GDP) and the number of workers involved in these activities. For this purpose, the authors carry out a descriptive analysis of data, using some official databases. The main results indicate that before the pandemic all indicators showed strong growth in the tourism sector in both countries. After the end of 2019 and 2020 the scenario changed dramatically. In Italy, the main results indicate that total arrivals decreased by 57,6% and nights spent registered a 52,3% reduction. In Portugal, the main results indicate that overnights in tourist accommodation decreased by 63%, the income registered a 66,3% reduction, guests in tourist accommodation (residents) with a 39,2% reduction, and non-residents with a 75,7% contraction.