Trillions in revenue lost. A third of the global workforce unemployed. Thousands of companies mothballed or bankrupt. There’s no doubt about it, 2020 has been an absolute nightmare for the tourism industry, as COVID-19 has seen international travel grind to a halt, with catastrophic effects not just for airlines, hotels and travel businesses, but also businesses that depend on tourism such as restaurants, shops, taxis and many many more. It’s been absolutely unprecedented in both its global reach and its duration, and we have all been affected.

But there is some good news. Firstly, 2020 will be over in three weeks time. And whilst an arbitrary, human-created line in the sand is going to have zero effect on the virus itself, seeing the back of this awful year will give us all a bit of a lift, a psychological boost, as we move into 2021, the year in which things will, if not return to normal, at least start moving in a positive direction. And there are other reasons to be cheerful as we move out of 2020…

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