Tourism industry bounces back

The tourism industry continues to recover at a strong pace around the world.

Globally, destinations welcomed almost three times as many international arrivals in the first quarter of 2022 as during the same period of 2021, with Europe leading the sector’s rebound.

The latest United Nations World Tourism Organization Barometer saw a 182% year-on-year increase in January-March 2022, with destinations worldwide welcoming an estimated 117 million international arrivals compared to 41 million in Q1 2021.

Of the extra 76 million international arrivals for the first three months, about 47 million were recorded in March, showing that the recovery is gathering pace.

UNWTO data shows that during the first quarter of 2022, Europe welcomed almost four times as many international arrivals (+280%) as in Q1 of 2021, with results driven by strong intra-regional demand.

In the Americas arrivals more than doubled (+117%) in the same three months. But arrivals in Europe and the Americas were still 43% and 46% below 2019 levels respectively.

The Middle East (+132%) and Africa (+96%) also saw strong growth in Q1 2022 compared to 2021, but arrivals remained 59% and 61% below 2019 levels respectively.

Asia and the Pacific recorded a 64% increase over 2021 but again, levels were 93% below 2019 numbers as several destinations remained closed to non-essential travel.

Although international tourism remains 61% below 2019 levels, the gradual recovery is expected to continue throughout 2022, as more destinations ease or lift travel restrictions and pent-up demand is unleashed.

As of June 2, 45 destinations (of which 31 are in Europe) had no Covid-19 related restrictions in place. In Asia, an increasing number of destinations have started to ease those restrictions.

Despite these positive prospects, a challenging economic environment coupled with the military offensive of the Russian Federation in Ukraine pose a downside risk to the ongoing recovery of international tourism.