The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Economic and Financial Impact on the Tourism Sector from a Global Perspective – A Study of Support Measures Adopted in Selected Countries to Aid Sector Recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a shadow over all sectors of the global economy without exception. Among the most severely impacted was the tourism sector, primarily due to travel restrictions and the complete shutdown of airports and border crossings intended to contain the virus's spread. This study aims to evaluate the extent of the negative economic repercussions the pandemic had on the tourism sector. The scope of the analysis includes global tourism performance indicators, with a particular focus on the principal initiatives adopted by various countries to support the sector’s recovery. To achieve the objectives of this study, a descriptive-analytical methodology was employed to examine the central aspects of the topic. The findings reveal that global tourism endured unprecedented damage during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the loss of millions of jobs and a significant reduction in tourism revenues across most of the world’s economies. and disrupted supply chains and pushed the global economy into recession, a decline in global growth and a rise of risks. All this has resulted in an unprecedented unemployment level, and almost complete paralysis in various world economies