Global Tourism Set for Full Recovery by End of the Year

Photo source: UN Tourism

Global tourism should expect a full recovery from the biggest crisis in the sector’s history – COVID-19 – by the end of the year, despite economic, geopolitical, and climate challenges, according to the World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism).

The UN’s specialized agency’s latest World Tourism Barometer found that around 1.1 billion tourists travelled internationally in the first nine months of 2024, as the global tourism sector recovered 98 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

Four years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought global tourism to a standstill, the barometer reflects the sector’s remarkable recovery, with most regions already exceeding 2019 arrival numbers in the period January to September 2024.

Results were driven by strong post-pandemic demand in Europe and robust performance from large source markets globally, as well as the ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia and the Pacific. Increased air connectivity and visa facilitation also supported international travel.

The Middle East led recovery with arrivals up 29 percent compared to 2019, followed by Africa (+6 percent), Europe (+1 percent), and the Americas (97 percent recovery). Asia and the Pacific reached 85 percent of pre-pandemic arrivals, highlighting a strong rebound fueled by eased travel restrictions. Notably, North Africa (+18 percent) and Central America (+16 percent) outperformed other subregions.

Tourism receipts show extraordinary growth

Photo source: UN Tourism

Global tourism revenues showed even stronger results in terms of international tourism receipts, with most destinations with available data seeing faster growth in receipts than in arrivals. Thirty-five out of 43 reporting countries surpassed pre-pandemic earnings in the first eight to nine months of 2024, often with double-digit increases and well above inflation in most cases.

“The strong growth seen in tourism receipts is excellent news for economies around the world,” UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said.

Serbia (+99 percent), Portugal (+51 percent), and Türkiye (+41 percent) were among the top performers.

Data on international tourism expenditure reflects the same trend, especially among large source markets such as Germany (+35 percent compared to 2019), the United States (+33 percent) and France (+11 percent).

“The fact that visitor spending is growing even stronger than arrivals has a direct impact on millions of jobs and small businesses and contributes decisively to the balance of payments and tax revenues of many economies.”

Challenges remain for tourism

Photo source: UN Tourism

Despite the generally strong results, several economic, geopolitical and climate challenges remain.

“The tourism sector is still facing inflation in travel and tourism, namely high transport and accommodation prices, as well as volatile oil prices,” UN Tourism said.

Moreover, major conflicts and tensions around the world continue to impact consumer confidence, while extreme weather events and staff shortages are also critical challenges for tourism performance, the organization added.