INTERNATIONAL. New data from UN Tourism’s World Tourism Barometer has revealed international tourism arrivals bounced back to 96% of 2019 pre-pandemic levels in the seven months to July 2024.
The leading tourism body noted the fast-closing gap on 2019 numbers was driven by strong demand in Europe and the re-opening of markets in the Asia Pacific region.
It added that the results are in line with UN Tourism’s projection of a full recovery in international arrivals in 2024 despite ongoing economic and geopolitical risks.
UN Tourism said around 790 million tourists travelled internationally in the January-July period, about +11% more than in 2023. It noted that the data shows a strong start to the year, followed by a more modest second quarter.
Regional results
With increased air connectivity and visa facilitation supporting the recovery in international travel, the data shows all world regions have recorded a strong year to date.
The Middle East remained the strongest-growing region in relative terms, with international arrivals climbing +26% above 2019 levels in the first seven months of 2024.
Africa welcomed +7% more tourists than in the same months of 2019, while Europe and the Americas recovered 99% and 97% of their pre-pandemic arrivals, respectively, in the period.
Asia Pacific recorded 82% of its pre-pandemic tourist numbers, reaching 85% in June and 86% in July.
Some 67 out of 120 destinations around the world recovered 2019 arrival numbers in the first half of 2024, based on countries reporting monthly or quarterly data.
Some of the strongest performers in the January-July months were Qatar (+147% versus 2019), Albania (+93%), El Salvador (+81%) and Saudi Arabia (+73%). The Republic of Moldova and Tanzania reported +50% and +49%, respectively, to June.
Receipts and expenditure data
Regarding international tourism receipts, UN Tourism noted 47 out of 63 countries with available data had recovered pre-pandemic values in the first six months of 2024, many reporting strong double-digit growth compared to 2019 (in local currencies and current prices).
Among the best performers through June or July 2024 were Albania (+128%) and Serbia (+126%), compared to the same period of 2019. They were followed by Tajikistan (+85%), Pakistan (+76%), Montenegro (+70%), North Macedonia (+60%), Portugal (+57%), Türkiye (+55%) and Colombia (+54%).
Regarding first-quarter data, Saudi Arabia (+207%) and El Salvador (+168%) recorded “extraordinary growth” in the words of UN Tourism, compared to Q1 2019.
Data on international tourism expenditure reveals strong demand for outbound travel in January-July 2024, especially from large source markets such as the USA (+32%), Germany (+38%) and the UK (+40% through March), compared to pre-pandemic numbers.
Strong outbound spending was also reported by Australia (+34%), Canada (+28%) and Italy (+26%) to June 2024. Limited data for India shows an impressive surge in outbound spending, with +86% growth in Q1 2024 (versus Q1 2019).
Revised data for 2023 shows export revenues from international tourism reaching US$1.8 trillion (including receipts and passenger transport), virtually the same as before the pandemic (-1% in real terms compared to 2019).
Tourism direct GDP also recovered pre-pandemic levels in 2023, reaching an estimated US$3.4 trillion, equivalent to 3% of global GDP.
Rest of 2024 outlook
The UN Tourism Confidence Index shows positive expectations for the last part of the year, at 120 points for September-December 2024, though below the prospects for May-August, which stood at 130 (on a scale of 0 to 200, where 100 reflects equal expected performance).
Some 47% of the tourism experts participating in the Confidence survey expect better performance for the sector in the last four months of 2024, while 41% project similar performance and 11% worse. This reflects a gradual normalisation of tourism performance after a strong 2023, UN Tourism noted.
Experts pointed to inflation in travel and tourism, namely high transport and accommodation prices, as the main challenge the tourism sector is currently facing, as well as the global economic situation, staff shortages and extreme weather events.
UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “International tourism is on track to consolidate its full recovery from the biggest crisis in the sector’s history. The ongoing rebound comes despite a range of economic and geopolitical challenges, highlighting the strong demand for international travel as well as the effectiveness of boosting air connections and easing visa restrictions.
“This recovery also highlights the growing need for tourism planning and managing to cater for its impacts on communities in a way that the immense socio-economic benefits are paired with inclusive and sustainable policies.” ✈
