COVID-19 impact on tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean 2020

In 2020, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Central and South America had suffered a contraction of more than 110 billion U.S. dollars due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism. Meanwhile, the global travel restrictions imposed due to the health crisis caused a GDP decline of roughly 33 billion U.S. dollars in the Caribbean. In consequence, tourism employment was also severely affected in those regions that year.

Tourism contribution to GDP in Latin America and the Caribbean

The gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value of all goods and services produced in a country or a region within a certain period. Excluding Mexico, the total contribution of the tourism sector to Latin America and the Caribbean’s GDP saw a moderate but overall positive trend during the past decade, surpassing 350 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. In Mexico alone, nearly two trillion Mexican pesos (more than 100 billion U.S. dollars at exchange rates of December 31, 2019) were added that year to the country’s GDP by tourism-related activities.

COVID-19 impact on travel and tourism in Mexico

Mexico is not only the leading country for tourism in Latin America but also one of the key players in the travel sector worldwide. For most of 2020, the Mexican government opted out of travel restrictions and lockdowns. This measure, however, did not rescue the country's tourism sector from the harsh impact of COVID-19. As of October of that year, Mexico was among the travel destinations most affected by the pandemic, with tourism revenue losses amounting to nearly 14 billion U.S. dollars.