The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has predicted international tourist arrivals could reach up to 95 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in 2023, with some regions already experiencing pre-pandemic arrival numbers.
After a “stronger than expected” recovery in 2022, the UNWTO says international arrivals could return to 2019 levels this year in the world’s biggest tourism region, Europe, and also in the Middle East.
However, the UNWTO says growth in arrival numbers could be tempered by lower spending levels among travellers as tourists harbour concerns over global economic conditions.
There are also ongoing concerns around Covid-19 and global security, led by the war in Ukraine.
“A new year brings more reason for optimism for global tourism,” UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said.
“UNWTO anticipates a strong year for the sector even in the face of diverse challenges including the economic situation and continued geopolitical uncertainty.
“Economic factors may influence how people travel in 2023 and UNWTO expects demand for domestic and regional travel to remain strong and help drive the sector’s wider recovery.”
Despite the lingering concerns however, international tourism recovered 63 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in 2022, says the UNWTO.
According to the organisation, more than 900 million tourists travelled internationally in 2022 – double the number recorded in 2021 – with all regions experiencing growth.
Furthermore, there were “notable increases” in international tourism receipts across most destinations, with growth in average length of stays leading travellers to spend more in their destinations.
Per region, the Middle East and Europe enjoyed the biggest returns to tourism, recording 83 per cent and 79 per cent of pre-pandemic levels respectively, while Africa and the Americas recovered around 65 per cent of their pre-pandemic visitor numbers in 2022.
Meanwhile, thanks to stronger pandemic-related restrictions, the Asia-Pacific region reached only 23 per cent of 2019 tourism levels last year. But this is expected to rise significantly in 2023, with borders now reopened virtually everywhere.
Where tourism is really back
Destinations reporting arrivals above pre-pandemic levels in the first ten to twelve months of 2022 include US Virgin Islands (+27%), Albania (+17%), Honduras (+17%), Saint Maarten (+15%), Andorra (+14%), Dominican Republic (+10%), El Salvador (+7%), Curacao (+6%), Colombia (+5%) Ethiopia (+3%) and Liechtenstein (+2%).
Many destinations also reported tourism receipts above pre-pandemic levels from January to October 2022 including Turkey (+40%), Romania (+25%), Mexico (+13%), Portugal (+15%), Latvia (+14%), Pakistan, Morocco (both +6%) and France (+1%).
Karryon recently caught up with ten travel advisors to ask them what they hope 2023 has in store for them and the industry they love.
