2023-09-23 19:06:32
The latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on the evolution of tourism on an international scale are much more than reassuring. Even satisfactory.
According to this specialized United Nations agency intended to promote and develop this sector, international tourism quickly overcame the decline due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The recovery is such that it would be on the path to a full recovery.
“International tourism continued to recover from the worst crisis in its history, with the number of arrivals reaching 84% of pre-pandemic levels between January and July 2023,” noted the UNWTO.
Even despite economic and geopolitical challenges, these figures show that “tourism demand continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience and sustained recovery,” continued the UN agency.
According to the new edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, which traces the recovery of the sector over the year 2023 until the end of July, “700 million tourists traveled abroad between January and July 2023 , which is 43% more than in the same months of 2022. July was the busiest month with 145 million international travelers registered, or around 20% of the seven-month total.
As UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili notes, the data collected by the United Nations institution “show once again that tourism is recovering vigorously in all regions of the world”.
If the evolution of recent data is most encouraging, to the point of allowing the sector to recover, we must hope that it also adapts to reality.
Because, “the extreme weather phenomena we have witnessed in recent months as well as the crucial challenges posed by managing growing tourist flows highlight the need to build a more inclusive, more sustainable and more resilient industry and to ensure that the recovery goes hand in hand with an overhaul of our sector,” said Zurab Pololikashvili.
All regions of the world have seen strong rates of tourism recovery in the first seven months of 2023, driven by international travel demand from several major source markets.
Still according to the UNWTO Tourism Barometer, the Middle East, Europe and Africa are leading the rebound in this sector worldwide.
Thus, with arrivals 20% higher than pre-pandemic levels, the data shows that the Middle East recorded the best results from January to July 2023, the region remaining for the moment the only one to exceed 2019 levels.
Considered the largest destination region in the world, Europe has reached 91% of pre-pandemic levels. According to the explanations of the international organization, the recovery of the sector is “supported by robust intra-regional demand and by travel from the United States”.
As for Africa, available data suggests that it “recovered 92% of pre-crisis visitors during this seven-month period and the Americas 87%”.
Finally, the same data shows that the recovery accelerated in Asia and the Pacific “to reach 61% of pre-pandemic arrivals levels after the opening of many destinations and source markets at the end of 2022 and at the beginning of this year.
As the UNWTO notes in its report, all “these results show that international tourism is on track to reach 80 to 95% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023”.
According to the UN agency, the outlook for September-December 2023 suggests a continuation of the recovery, according to the latest UNWTO confidence index. Although this is done at a more moderate pace after the peak travel season of June-August.
For the institution, there is no doubt “these results will be driven by the still contained demand and by the increase in air connectivity, particularly in Asia and the Pacific, where the recovery is still modest,” he said. -she assured.
Alain Bouithy
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