Tourexpi
International tourism reaches 97% of pre-virus levels in Q1
International tourism reached 97% of its
pre-pandemic level in the first quarter of this year, the UN Tourism said on
Tuesday.
More than 285 million tourists traveled
internationally in January-March, rising 20% from the previous year, it said.
While export revenues from tourism remained at 97%,
direct tourism GDP reached the same levels as in 2019.
The UN specialized agency for tourism expects
international tourism to fully recover in 2024 with arrivals exceeding 2% of
2019 levels.
Europe, the world's largest destination region,
surpassed pre-virus levels in a quarter for the first time, up 1% to 120
million international tourists in the first three months of the year, backed by
robust intra-regional demand.
The Middle East saw the strongest relative growth,
with international arrivals exceeding by 36% pre-pandemic levels this
January-March.
Contrary to other regions, Asia and the Pacific has
not fully recovered yet despite a strong growth in international tourist
figure. Arrivals reached 82% of its 2019 first-quarter level.
Image
Credit: © AA
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