The COVID-19 pandemic had an extraordinary adverse impact on the global economy in 2020 resulting in the closure of borders, national lockdowns, curfews and imposition of restrictions on non-essential services to limit the spread of the virus. Global economic activity fell by unprecedented levels, particularly in the second quarter, causing a recession far greater than that of the 2008/09 financial crisis. Global output is estimated to have contracted by 3.5 percent in 2020, compared to an expansion of 2.8 percent in 2019. The travel industry and other services sectors which are contact-intensive were the hardest hit during this โGreat Lockdownโ with a simultaneous health and economic crisis. Tourism-based economies and oil exporting countries were most acutely affected by this global shock…