Data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) shows that international tourism last year was 88% of 2019 levels and is projected to exceed pre-pandemic levels by 2% by the end of 2024.
Tourism recovery in 2023
According to the first UNWTO World Tourism Barometer 2023, there were around 1.3 billion international arrivals last year. The agency expects “continued growth in travel” throughout 2024, which, coupled with increased air connectivity and a stronger recovery in Asian markets that were late in lifting Covid-related travel restrictions, should finally lead to a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels.
It is worth noting that the data shows opposite trends in the recovery. Several destinations, including both large, established destinations and smaller, emerging ones, reported double-digit growth in international arrivals in 2023 compared to 2019, but others continued to lag far behind. While tourism in the European Union has already exceeded pre-pandemic levels last year, it only reached 94% for Europe as a whole.
The Middle East led the recovery in relative terms, being the only region to surpass pre-pandemic levels, with visits 22% higher than in 2019. Africa has recovered 96%, while the Americas have reached 90%. Asia and the Pacific has only reached 65% of pre-pandemic levels. However, the numbers are mixed, with South Asia already recovering 87% of 2019 levels, and Northeast Asia around 55%.
When scaled up to a regional level, four sub-regions outperformed their respective travellers in 2019: Europe’s Southern Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Central America and North Africa, showing a continued preference for warm climates and beach holidays.