INTERNATIONAL TOURISM: THE CHARACTERISTICS AND DYNAMICS OF GROWTH IN CONDITIONS OF CRISIS

Abstract

Judging by the number of travellers, tourism underwent a massive expansion during the second half of the 20th century. The expansion that tourism experienced in the second half of the 20th century continued during the 21st century, with the exception of the periods of the 2008 economic crisis, and the current health crisis (COVID-19 pandemic). In accordance with the aforementioned, it can be pointed out that tourism was in constant progression and development until the crisis, that it was ‘the world’s leading industry’, and that its impact on the process of socio-economic development was continuously growing and intensifying. With this in mind, the aim of this paper is to examine the characteristics and dynamics of the growth of international tourism before, during and after the economic crisis of 2008, as well as during the current health crisis (COVID-19 pandemic), based on relevant macroeconomic indicators. The results of the analysis confirm the well-known facts that tourism is not only very sensitive to crises but also that it is a highly flexible sector that adjusts and resumes the growth of traffic very quickly following the end of a crisis.