Thanks to globalization and the widespread use of the internet across businesses, the tourism industry has also been growing immensely. Online influence has impacted tourism in a positive way, and traveling is no more a luxury to anyone. With cheaper travel tickets and much cheaper accommodation on the table, people are more than happy to travel now.
Travel bans/restrictions – what are they?
With the increase in globalization also increases the threat to the security of the nations. The security of countries is under threat, which results in travel bans and restrictions. With terrorism topping the list of the threats along with pandemics, natural disasters, etc., the authorities are forced to look for more options to control damage to personal lives and properties in the respective countries. This is when the travel bans and the travel restrictions come into place to mitigate the risks of the new entrants into a country and keep the nation safe.
Impact of travel restriction on tourism
Tourism is a sector that can get easily affected by global issues, the best example being the recent pandemic of Covid-19. When there is a crisis across the world, people tend to delay the trips or even cancel at times, causing loss to the tourism industry.
It is true that travel bans can deeply hinder the industry of tourism. Some of the reasons why tourism is impacted by travel bans can be attributed to
- The behavior of consumers in general who might pose a risk to the nation. For instance, in the recent case of Covid-19, travelers could have possibly been the reason for the pandemic to spread, which resulted in travel bans.
- The influence left over by the previous instances of similar nature. When a country faces a threat, they take their lessons from previous experiences, which is also reflected in the travel restrictions imposed by them.
- Lack of infrastructure to combat the threats which can alter the travel rules to any country.
- As a result of the strategy adopted by the local businesses, which can impact the availability of basic necessities.
With threats like that of a pandemic, countries often impose quarantines, travel restrictions, stricter filtration measures at the entry point in order to keep the nation and its citizens protected. And of course, it means a drop in the tourism industry and the revenue it brings along.
But if you wonder whether tourism is the only industry to be affected, you could not be more wrong. With a decline in tourism, other industries that are entirely dependent on the visit of the tourists also face a decline. In the recent pandemic of Covid-19, many smaller businesses went out of business and closed across the world.
The travel bans are sometimes imposed as a complete restriction of travelers entering a country. And there are times when it is placed more as a restricted entry, where there are checks imposed at the point of entry. And in some cases, the tourists have to be in quarantine until they are affirmed to go further into the country.
Travel bans do impact tourism in the countries, and yet sometimes they cannot be foregone. They are mandated by the situation and demands of the crisis.
References:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211973620301112
https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/current-issues-in-tourism-covid-19-and-tourism/
