Worst performing S&P 500 shares 2020

Of all the stocks included in the S&P 500 index, those belonging to companies heavily reliant on tourism suffered some of - if not - the worst losses over 2020. Cruise ship operators Carnival Corporation and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings were two the of the three biggest losers of 2020, while the share price of all three major full-service U.S. airlines - American, Delta and United - also lost significant value during the year. This is directly connected to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which caused the global tourism industry to grind to a halt as the free movement of people between (and often within) countries was curtailed by many governments. The effect on tourism was also in part to blame for the collapse in energy stocks, with products like airline fuel seeing a collapse of demand in 2020.