A third part of the 217 tourist sites in the world are still closed to visitors as part of measures implemented to face the Covid-19, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported on Sunday.
UNWTO indicates that at the beginning of February there were 69 destinations in this situation, 30 of them in Asia and the Pacific, 15 in Europe, 11 in Africa, 10 in the Americas and three in the Middle East.
According to the industry’s leading agency, the emergence of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which caused Covid-19, prompted many governments to reverse efforts to ease travel restrictions.
The greatest extent of total closures is recorded in Europe and Asia-Pacific due to the adoption of a ‘more cautious approach’ in the face of the persistent seriousness of the epidemiological situation, the UNWTO report adds.
According to the UNWTO, there is a tendency to apply travel bans with a more nuanced approach based on ’empirical data and risks’.
The study states that 32 percent of tourist destinations require the presentation of a PCR or antigen-negative certificate for travelers as the main requirement for international arrivals, which is often combined with a quarantine.
According to UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, restrictions are only part of the solution.