After three years of post-Covid convalescence, global tourism regained color last year, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which forecasts a record level of activity in 2024 despite international tensions, particularly in the Near East. . According to the UN agency based in Madrid, in 2023 there were around 1.3 billion international tourist arrivals worldwide, compared to around 900 million in 2022 and 450 million in 2021. This figure is equivalent to 88% of the level. of 2019, the last year. before the Covid-19 pandemic, the UNWTO states in a press release. That year, 1.46 billion international tourists traveled around the world, a record according to the agency.
The recovery was driven in 2023 by strong dynamics in the Middle East, where tourist arrivals exceeded the 2019 figure by 22%, but also in the American continent and in Europe, the main tourist destination in the world where activity reached 94% of its pre-pandemic level. level. The recovery, on the other hand, was weaker than expected in Asia (65% of the 2019 level), despite the lifting of health restrictions decided a year ago in China, including the end of mandatory quarantines for foreign travelers, After three years. of the “Covid zero” policy.
Revenue of $1.4 trillion in 2023
Despite this drawback, “the latest UNWTO data highlight the resilience and rapid recovery of tourism”, with already visible consequences for “growth” and “employment”, underlines UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab. Pololikashvili, quoted in the statement. According to a preliminary estimate provided by the Madrid agency, the income generated by international tourism last year reached 1.4 billion dollars. The economic contribution of tourism, including air traffic, amounted to 3% of global GDP.
This recovery, long awaited by tourism agents, should continue over the coming months. According to a first estimate from the UNWTO, tourist arrivals should exceed the 2019 level this year by 2%, a new record.
According to the UN agency, the activity should benefit in particular from the increase in tourism in China thanks to the relaxation of the visa regime for many countries, including France, Germany and Italy, and from Chinese travel to other areas. of the world. . China was the world’s top supplier of tourists before the pandemic, with 154 million Chinese having visited other countries, according to the UNWTO. The Chinese were also the biggest spenders, with $255 billion spent in 2019, or 17% of global tourism spending.
Geopolitical and economic risks weigh in 2024
The resumption of Chinese tourism should especially benefit France, the world’s leading tourist destination. The country, which will host the Olympic Games this summer but also the 80th anniversary of the June 6, 1944 Landings in Normandy, should receive more than 100 million tourists in 2024, according to the government. It should also benefit Spain, the second most visited country in the world, with 84 million tourists last year, a new record, according to the executive. “We are well placed to continue along this path in 2024,” the Minister of Tourism, Jordi Hereu, stressed on Friday.
However, according to the UNWTO, the consolidation of global tourism continues to depend on the evolution of “geopolitical risks”, especially in the Middle East, where tourism is expected to suffer the consequences of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and in Ukraine, where The war with Russia is stalled. It could also be penalized by economic problems, such as “persistent inflation, high interest rates” and “volatile oil prices”, which could “continue to influence transport and accommodation costs in 2024”. A set of factors that could push international tourists to “travel closer to home” for economic reasons, concludes the UNWTO.
Source: BFM TV
