International tourism on way to full recovery, says UN agency

International tourism continues to show signs of recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, a report by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) shows.

UNWTO says there was a strong rebound in the first five months of this year, with almost 250 million international arrivals recorded.

This is compared to 77 million arrivals from January to May 2021, meaning the sector has recovered by almost half (46 per cent) of the pre-pandemic levels.

“The recovery of tourism has gathered pace in many parts of the world, weathering the challenges standing in its way,” said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili.

At the same time, he also advised caution in view of the “economic headwinds and geopolitical challenges that could impact the sector in the remainder of 2022 and beyond.”

Europe welcomed more than four times as many international arrivals as in the first five months of 2021 (+350 per cent), boosted by strong intra-regional demand and the removal of all travel restrictions in a number of countries.

The region particularly saw robust performance in April (+458 per cent), reflecting a busy Easter period. In the Americas, arrivals more than doubled (+112 per cent).

Gathered pace

However, the strong rebound is measured against weak results in 2021 and arrivals remain overall 36 per cent and 40 per cent below 2019 levels in both regions respectively.

The recovery of tourism has gathered pace in many parts of the world, weathering the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The same pattern is seen across other regions.

The strong growth in the Middle East (+157 per cent) and Africa (+156 per cent) remained 54 per cent and 50 per cent below 2019 levels respectively, and Asia and the Pacific almost doubled arrivals (+94 per cent), though numbers were 90 per cent below 2019 as some borders remained closed to non-essential travel.

SOURE: THE STANDARD