Airports are busier, hotels are filling up, and your neighbour’s just returned from a family holiday in Fiji.
All the signs that international travel is back to normal are there. And it’s great. Sing-it-from-the-rooftops great. But we’re still only almost there, as far as a full return to pre-pandemic levels of tourism goes.
According to The World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) second World Tourism Barometer of the year, the tourism industry’s recovery has continued from 2022 into this year.
Overall, international arrivals reached 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2023, with an estimated 235 million tourists travelling internationally from January to March, which was, unsurprisingly, more than double the same period of 2022.
And the winner is…
While nearly every region is still in the process of making a full tourism recovery, one major region is already there.
UNWTO data shows that the Middle East didn’t just exceed 2019 tourist arrival numbers – it surpassed them, and with double-digit growth.
The first (and only) major region to recover pre-pandemic numbers in a full quarter, the Middle East saw growth of 15 per cent over the same three months in 2019.
Elsewhere, Europe reached 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, Africa hit 88 per cent, and the Americas about 85 per cent of 2019 levels. So, promising stats (almost) across the board.
Asia-Pacific continues to be the outlier among the world’s major regions, only recovering just over half (54 per cent) of pre-Covid levels in the first quarter of 2023. But expect that to change a lot, now that China and most other destinations have fully reopened to tourism.
Among sub-regions, Mediterranean Europe and North Africa have also recovered pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2023, while Western Europe, Northern Europe, Central America and the Caribbean all came close to reaching those levels.
The challenge
“The start of the year has shown again tourism’s unique ability to bounce back,” UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said.
“In many places, we are close to or even above pre-pandemic levels of arrivals.
“However, we must remain alert to challenges ranging from geopolitical insecurity, staffing shortages, and the potential impact of the cost-of-living crisis on tourism, and we must ensure tourism’s return delivers on its responsibilities as a solution to the climate emergency and as a driver of inclusive development.”
Overall, more than 960 million tourists travelled abroad last year, equal to two-thirds (66 per cent) of 2019 numbers.
Global tourism receipts also hit the US$1 trillion (AU$1.5 trillion) mark again in 2022, growing 50 per cent in real terms compared to 2021 and reaching two-thirds (64 per cent) of pre-pandemic levels.
Looking ahead, the UNWTO expects international arrivals to recover 80 per cent to 95 per cent of pre-pandemic levels overall, with experts predicting a particularly strong peak season (May-August) in the Northern Hemisphere.