An increase in travel and tourism over the last century has seen economies boom. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, an authority on the industry, Travel and Tourism contributed USD 8.8 Trillion, and 319 million jobs to the world economy in 2018. The industry continues to grow and grew by 3.9% in 2018 over the previous year (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2019). This increase in travel and tourism activity, means an increase in the movement of people around the globe which enables the faster spread of infectious diseases, and as the spread of disease turns to pandemic levels, the negative impact on the global economy is highly significant when travel and tourism slows.

Global Pandemics

The Spanish Flu pandemic brought on by a deadly strain of the first H1N1 avian flu virus killed approximately 50 million people worldwide, and infected one-third of the world’s population (Centres for…