Empty Beach in Cancun
(Photo : Flickr)

With the global declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic disease, economic damages particularly to the tourism industry are projected among affected countries.

Travel restrictions, hotel and accommodation cancellations and fall in the number of visitors are crippling the tourism industry.

Tourism experts also argue that it will continue to hurt the global economy until 2021.

Due to fears of coronavirus infection, Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco postponed until September all international tourism conferences. Although the tourism industry in Mexico is one of the major sources of revenue in the country and the seventh most visited country in the world in 2018, precautions on COVID-19 are still recommended by the health minister.

The Tianguis Turistico 2020 event will now take place in Mérida, Yucatán, from September 19-22 rather than March 22-25.   

State Tourism Secretary Jen Schroer admitted on Friday that the New Mexico economy is critically hit by the coronavirus outbreak and is expected to recover around 6 to 9 months.

The secretary noted that the week has been extremely difficult for the state as hotel lodging across the state decreased by 7.3 percent while the La Fonda Plaza in Santa Fe reported a 30 percent decline as of March 8.

Spring break bookings have been cancelled and La Fonda on the Plaza lost 30 to 40 percent of visitors.

The coronavirus outbreak also presents a significant threat to the labor force.

According to the head of the World Travel and Tourism Council, the coronavirus outbreak could cost up to 50 million jobs worldwide thus, tourism companies are encouraged to preserve the job of their employees and consider their welfare.

The crisis with coronavirus infection also causes Mexico to face the second year of recession and Mexican officials want to avoid worsening the economic conditions of the country.

As of March 14, Mexico has 41 confirmed cases of COVID-19 hence, announced the closing of schools from March 20 to April 20, nationwide practice of "safe distance", suspension of events with 5,000 people or more, and advisory on the avoidance of non-essential international travel.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said on Thursday that community transmission within Mexico could begin within about 15 days and efforts to detect potential cases of coronavirus to slow down transmission of the disease is the main priority of the government. 

Due to the nature of the tourism industry which is movement of people, the United Nation World Tourism Organization calls on governments, international organizations, and donor agencies to include tourism as priority in recovery plans and actions.

These include cross-cutting economic activity in the Sustainable Development agenda for future tourism recovery efforts, and continued partnership with World Health Organization in case of travel or trade restrictions to minimize unnecessary disruptions.

Despite all these plans and lobbying, the question that still prompts the tourism sector "How long will this continue?"

The answer lies on the confirmed cases from the health sector while the challenge is on the shoulders of the government.

Not only is the government responsible for the safety of its people, we too must take the necessary measures to ensure our own safety in times such as these.