World Tourism Organization: Global tourism has recovered to nearly 90% of pre-epidemic levels

As of September this year, the number of international tourists reached 975 million, indicating that the tourism industry has recovered to nearly 90% of its pre-epidemic level. The United Nations World Tourism Organization said at its headquarters in Madrid on the 14th that it expects the tourism industry to make substantial progress by the end of 2023.

According to the latest World Tourism Barometer released by the World Tourism Organization, the number of international tourists received by major tourist destinations in the world in the third quarter of 2023 increased by 22% compared with the same period last year, reflecting the strong momentum of the summer tourism peak season in the northern hemisphere.

Overall, tourism recovered to 87% of pre-pandemic levels between January and September 2023. The report said tourism is expected to recover nearly 90% by the end of this year.

According to sources, global tourism revenues will reach $1.4 trillion by 2023.

The latest data shows that the tourism industry has almost fully recovered from the unprecedented coronavirus crisis, said World Tourism Organization Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili.

The improvement was particularly pronounced in the Middle East, where tourist arrivals in the first nine months of 2023 were 20% above pre-pandemic levels.

Europe was the world’s largest tourist destination, welcoming 550 million international tourists during the period, accounting for 56% of the global total, mainly due to healthy demand within the region and strong demand from the United States.

During the nine-month period, visitor numbers in Africa recovered to 92% of pre-pandemic levels, and visitor numbers in the Americas reached 88% of the same period in 2019.

Due to the slower reopening of international travel, Asia and the Pacific reached 62% of pre-pandemic levels during this period.

Germany and the United States increased their spending on outbound tourism by 13% and 11% respectively compared with the same period in 2019, while Italy's spending increased by 16% in the year to August.

From Reference News Network