A passenger gets on a train to Prague of the Czech Republic at Berlin Central Train Station in Berlin, capital of Germany, June 15, 2020. The German government on Monday lifted its travel warnings for the European Union (EU) members, the Schengen-associated states and Britain, except Spain, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The warnings were replaced by individual travel advice. (Photo by Binh Truong/Xinhua)

The global tourism industry lost around 100 billion yuan ($14.1 billion) during the first four months this year, an industry report by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) suggested on Wednesday.

A MOFCOM report released this week showed that China's travel services import value declined by 34.7 percent during the January-April period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While the report did not disclose the actual figure for the period, it is estimated that travel service imports contracted by over 100 billion yuan over the period, taking reference from data for 2019. 

China's travel service imports represent Chinese tourists' contribution to the global tourism industry. 

China is the world's largest tourist source market. In 2018, Chinese tourists spent $277 billion during their trips abroad.

Data from the country's foreign exchange regulator also provided some insights. 

Loan data under the travel services category declined by a whopping 203.3 billion yuan to 381.2 billion yuan during the first four months of the year from the same period last year, indicating a marked decline in travel spending by Chinese people. 

The grounding of international air links and restriction of the movement of people by different governments are all behind the drop, the report said.

The World Tourism Organization previously predicted a 20-30 percent drop in the number of global tourists with a revenue decline of $300-450 billion for international travel service providers. 

Global Times