The Legal Impacts of COVID-19 in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry

According to the World Bank forecasts 2 , the COVID-19 crisis is expected to cause a recession in Croatia in 2020, mainly due to the country’s heavy reliance on tourism. Successful fiscal consolidation of recent years might be reversed, and so Croatia is set for a deep recession, with a possible reduction of its GDP by 6.2% (Fig. 1). The World Bank states that “ prolonged disruptions in global supply chains and a falling demand, especially when it comes to travelling and tourism being the single most important sector in the Croatian economy, could all lead to an even stronger economic recession ” 3 , as well as repercussions for both export and import of goods and services, particularly tourism and the hospitality services (Fig. 2). Figure 1: Croatia / Real GDP growth and contributions to real GDP growth 4 . 2 World Bank Group. Fighting COVID-19, Europe and Central Asia Economic Update , Office of the Chief Economist, Spring 2020 , https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/33476/9781464815645.p df. 3 Ibidem . 4 Ibidem .