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Will China Take the Lead in Manufacturing and Exporting Furniture?

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By Matthew Osteen

October 24, 2021
12:32 am
Los Angeles, CA

"If you’ve been waiting for an invitation, this calligraphy is it. Commissioned by Facebook, this is a hand-lettered design for a poster. Quote is Facebook mine "

- Massimo Vignelli

In 2019 and 2020, countries like Greece, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, Fiji, and other tourist-popular locations in the United States, received major economic pressure due to a drastic decrease in travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was due to both governmental travel restrictions, and peoples’ fear of contracting the virus. Now, in the second half of 2021, when Covid-19’s Delta variant has been spreading throughout the world for more than nine months, governments have enacted even more forceful measures to restrict travel. However, according to recent tourism statistics, most people consider the lockdowns to be a thing of the past. People seem to be less concerned with the virus after living almost two years under siege. Many countries have actively sought out safe reopening plans to revive their silent beaches,

17Tourism, Covid-19
In 2019 and 2020, countries like Greece, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, Fiji, and other tourist-popular locations in the United States, received major economic pressure due to a drastic decrease in travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was due to both governmental travel restrictions, and peoples’ fear of contracting the virus.

Now, in the second half of 2021, when Covid-19’s Delta variant has been spreading throughout the world for more than nine months, governments have enacted even more forceful measures to restrict travel. However, according to recent tourism statistics, most people consider the lockdowns to be a thing of the past. People seem to be less concerned with the virus after living almost two years under siege. Many countries have actively sought out safe reopening plans to revive their silent beaches, museums, and cities.

Mexico, for example, has seen a surge in both the number of tourists and tourism spending in July 2021. According to Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), over 3.38 million international visitors arrived in Mexico in July 2021. This is a 19% decline compared to the number of international visitors in July 2019, when Covid-19 had not yet ravaged the globe, but a large increase compared to the previous year. In addition, July 2021 had a combined tourism expenditure in Mexico of $2.12 billion, a 6.5% increase compared to the $1.99 billion of July 2019.

A similar increase in post-Covid outbreak tourism happened in Italy during the summer of 2021. 6 million Italians traveled domestically, according to SchengenVisaInfo.com, the website for the Schengen Visa. The SV a visa that allows people of certain European locales to travel freely between select countries without border control restrictions. 6 million is still lower than before the pandemic, but it is a prominent sign of tourism revival in Europe. Italy’s incorporation of the “green pass,” a confirmation of vaccination that needs to be presented upon entering many public indoor areas or use public transportation, might also be contributing to this increase in tourism.

According to statistics, a similar post Covid-19 surge in tourism can be seen in Greece. Aegean Airlines, Greece’s largest airline, saw a 70% increase in passengers in July and August 2021. Greek islands like Santorini, Patmos, Naxos, and Tzia were challenged by their ability to accommodate the sudden increase in tourism, according to eKathimerini, an Athens newspaper. Greece’s utilization of vaccines also helped encourage more foreign tourists to visit, according to SchengenVisaInfo.com.

For countries like Thailand and Vietnam, where tourism makes up most of their GDP, an early reopening looks necessary to save their weakening economy. Traveling, business, and person-to-person restrictions will have to be lifted by both destination and origin countries. This means that both Thailand and Vietnam will depend highly on origin country government cooperation. Pre-Covid tourism contributed to more than 15% of Thailand’s GDP and almost 9% of Vietnam’s GDP, according to the World Bank.

The Vietnamese Island of Chu Quoc, a highly popular tourist destination famous for its beaches, jungles, and fishing, will be reopened for vaccinated foreign visitors in November, according to the Vietnamese government. As for Thailand, Bangkok and other sites like the Island of Phuket will also be reopened in November, according to Reuters.