UN Tourism: World Tourism Barometer for September 2024

The report, titled "World Tourism Barometer," shows that from January to July 2024, there will be approximately 790 million international tourists, an increase of approximately 11% from 2023 and only 4% lower than in 2019.

The Middle East continues to lead the recovery

The data showed that the strongest relative growth was seen in the Middle East, with international tourist arrivals in the first seven months of this year up 26% from 2019 levels.

Inbound tourist arrivals to Africa were 7% higher than in the same period in 2019. Tourist arrivals to Europe and the Americas reached 99% and 97% of pre-pandemic levels, respectively. Tourist arrivals to Asia and the Pacific reached 82% of pre-pandemic levels (down 18% compared to 2019), reaching 85% in June and 86% in July.

In the first half of 2024, the number of international tourists in 67 of the world's 120 tourist destinations returned to the level of 2019. The number of tourists in many countries increased significantly, such as Qatar (up 147% from 2019), Albania (up 93%); and El Salvador (up 81%).

Tourism revenue increased significantly

In terms of international tourism receipts, at least 47 countries have returned to pre-pandemic levels in the first half of 2024, with many countries seeing strong double-digit growth compared to 2019 in real terms and in local currencies. The strongest growth was seen in Albania (up 128%) and Serbia (up 126%). Tajikistan, Pakistan, North Macedonia, North Macedonia and Portugal also saw growth of more than 60%. Data for the first quarter show that individual countries achieved exceptional growth compared to the same period in 2019, such as Saudi Arabia (up 207%) and El Salvador (up 168%).

International tourism expenditure data shows strong demand for outbound travel from January to July 2024 compared to the same period in 2019, especially from large source markets such as the United States (up 32%), Germany (up 38%) and the United Kingdom (up 40% as of March). Notably, India's outbound spending has increased significantly, with an 86% year-on-year increase in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 2019.

Revised data for 2023 show that export revenues from international tourism (including passenger transport) will reach $1.8 trillion, almost the same as before the pandemic (actually only 1% lower than in 2019). Direct GDP from tourism will also return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, estimated at $3.4 trillion, or 3% of global GDP. In 2019, tourism directly contributed 4% of global GDP.

Challenges remain

Experts pointed out that the main challenges currently facing the tourism industry include inflation in travel and tourism, high transportation and accommodation prices, the global economic situation, staff shortages and extreme weather events. Despite this, the United Nations Tourism Confidence Index shows that the outlook for September-December 2024 is still optimistic, with a score of 120. Although this figure is lower than the score of 130 from May to August (0-200 points, 100 points indicate that the expected performance is the same), among the tourism experts participating in the confidence survey, about 47% still believe that the industry will perform better in the last four months of 2024.

​The document link will be shared to 199IT Knowledge Planet. Scan the QR code below to view it!