WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals recorded globally, 2024 marked the recovery of international tourism from the worst crisis in the sector's history, says the UN's World Tourism Organization.
A majority of destinations welcomed more international tourists in 2024 than they did before the pandemic, while visitor spending also continued to grow strongly.
According to the latest World Tourism Barometer from UN Tourism, there is a 11 percent increase or 140 million more international tourist arrivals over 2023.
The resurgence in global tourism was driven by strong post-pandemic demand, robust performance from large source markets and the ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia and the Pacific, the UNWTO report stated.
With 95 million arrivals, the Middle East remained the strongest-performing region when compared to 2019. International arrivals increased by 32 percent above pre-pandemic levels in 2024.
Europe, the world's largest tourist destination region, saw 747 million international arrivals in 2024, supported by strong intraregional demand. All European sub-regions surpassed pre-pandemic levels, except for Central and Eastern Europe where many destinations are still suffering from the lingering effects of the Russian aggression on Ukraine.
With 213 million tourists, the Americas recovered 97 percent of pre-pandemic arrivals.
Asia and the Pacific (316 million) continued to experience a rapid recovery in 2024, though arrival numbers were still lower than the pre-pandemic levels.
'In 2024, global tourism completed its recovery from the pandemic and, in many places, tourist arrivals and specially earnings are already higher than in 2019,' UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said. 'Growth is expected to continue throughout 2025, driven by strong demand contributing to the socio-economic development of both mature and emerging destinations. This recalls our immense responsibility as a sector to accelerate transformation, placing people and planet at the center of the development of tourism.'
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