Tourism activities have been severely impacted by the Covid-19. Since the start of the health crisis, the sector has notably lost 150,000 customers, while 1,000 direct jobs are threatened.
Already sluggish, the tourism sector has been further affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The Minister in charge of Tourism has painted a grim picture of the impact of the health crisis in the sector. “Tourism is the sector that has paid the heaviest price for the health crisis,” Hughes Mbadinga Madiya says.
According to the member of the government, the consequences are alarming with 1000 direct jobs threatened; 150,000 lost customers; the three-quarter drop in operator turnover compared to 2019; several companies threatened with bankruptcy; and, the weakening of the livelihoods of workers and suppliers.
However, Hughes Mbadinga Madiya asserted that the government has taken a battery of measures to support actors in the sector. The latter notably mentioned the establishment of a technical unemployment benefit. “This corresponds to 50 to 70% of the gross monthly salary of each impacted employee excluding bonuses”, the Minister of Tourism explained.
These accompanying measures also include “the 50% reduction in business licenses and the synthetic final tax for small businesses and personal service companies”. Laudable efforts, which will not however prevent Gabon from entering recession in 2020, Hughes Mbadinga Madiya announced based on figures from the Directorate General of the Economy.
