Powered by 

After months of decline, GDP estimates for many countries have turned positive: the consensus forecast for world GDP growth in 2021 is 6.1%

Polls show that technology will change job prospects over the next three years, with AI expected to bring a change to job prospects

The World Bank has downgraded the economic growth forecast for East Asia and the Pacific (excluding China) to 4% in 2021

The European Commission has revised the economic growth rate of the EU upward to 4.8% in 2021. It estimates the EU will reach pre-pandemic level output by the end of 2021

Impact on airlines

In April, the International Air Transportation Association declared that it expects net airline industry losses of $47.7bn in 2021 with a net profit margin of -10.4%.

Losses have decreased since 2020 and the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the government-imposed travel restrictions still in place in June 2021 across destinations worldwide will continue to dampen international travel recovery. Airlines are therefore planning for an extended recovery period.

IMPACT ON INTERMEDIARIES

Many intermediaries are now focusing on experiences as a primary focus with partnerships becoming more common.

Recent partnerships include Trivago's (Expedia Group) partnership with Musement, TUI's experiential subsidiary and Booking.com's attraction partnership with Viator (Tripadvisor).

As travel remains restricted, intermediaries are exploring tours and activities as another revenue stream.

KEY TRAVEL AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENTS