Lingering global economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to be felt at least through this summer — and the lack of tourism due to ongoing travel bans will continue to hurt countless states’ economies and retail revenues.
To take a look at the potential economic impacts in the United States, WalletHub calculated which states will see the most impact this summer from the ongoing European travel ban. “While the U.S. will be hurt economically by the lack of European tourists, not all states will be impacted equally,” WalletHub wrote in a report released Tuesday.
At the top of the list? Nevada, Washington, D.C., New York and Florida. The least impacted include: Wisconsin, North Carolina, Texas and Ohio.
As a result, “States will need to account for billions of dollars in economic losses,” WalletHub said.
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WalletHub said it determined the economic impact of the travel ban in each state “based on the number of inbound tourists to each state alongside their total spending, and compared the result to each state’s gross domestic product.”
One solution to help alleviate the pain of travel bans is to make vaccines more widely available, said Ashley M. Fox, associate professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at the University at Albany. This idea also “carries equity considerations as this could affect the allocation of limited vaccine dosages towards international travelers and away from the broader public. It also raises questions about parents traveling with children who are still unable to vaccinate,” she said.
More robust testing protocols should also be considered to help get tourism back to more normalized levels, said L. Christopher Plein, professor of public administration at West Virginia University. “Proactive investments in overall public health programming, including testing, are essential,” said Plein. “Vaccine education, acceptance, and accessibility are among the highest priorities. Accessible and reliable testing systems can help in achieving these overall goals. These efforts can benefit the population as a whole and as a consequence can benefit those who travel as well.”
According to WalletHub, among the 27 European countries whose residents are restricted entry into the US due to the pandemic are: Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
