Ministers’ information "It reviews the most prominent global tourism indicators based on international reports"
The Information and Decision Support Center of the Council of Ministers highlighted the latest reports issued by the World Tourism Organization, which indicated that international tourist numbers had reached 96% of pre-pandemic levels as of last July, driven by strong demand in Europe and the reopening of markets in Asia and the Pacific. The Center indicated that, according to the latest global tourism measure – issued by the United Nations Tourism Organization – about 790 million international tourists traveled in the first seven months of this year. , an increase of about 11% from 2023 and only 4% less than in 2019, and the data shows a strong start to the quarter for this year, followed by a more modest second quarter, which is in line with the organization’s expectations for a full recovery of the number of international arrivals in 2024 despite the risks. The report indicated that international tourism is on the right track to enhance its full recovery from the largest crisis in the sector’s history, and the continued recovery comes despite a set of economic and geopolitical challenges, Highlighting the strong demand for international travel as well as the effectiveness of enhanced air connections and easing visa restrictions, this recovery also highlights the growing need for tourism planning and management to meet its impacts on communities in a way that combines enormous social and economic benefits with inclusive and sustainable policies.
The report indicated that with increased air connectivity, facilitation of obtaining visas, and support for the recovery of international travel, the data shows that all regions of the world have recorded a strong year so far. For example, the Middle East region has remained the region Relatively the strongest growth, as the number of international arrivals rose by 26% above 2019 levels in the first seven months of 2024, and Africa received a 7% increase in the number of tourists compared to the same months of 2019.
 
The report added that Europe and the Americas recovered 99% and 97% of their pre-pandemic arrivals, respectively, during these seven months, and the Asia-Pacific region also recorded 82% of pre-pandemic tourist numbers (-18% compared to 2019). ) as it reached 85% in June and 86% in July.
With regard to international tourism revenues, the report indicated that 47 countries out of 63 countries – which have data available – have recovered. – Their pre-pandemic value in the first six months of 2024, with many of them reporting strong double-digit growth compared to 2019 (in local currencies and current prices).
The report explained that Among the best performing countries as of June or July 2024 were Albania (+128%) and Serbia (+126%) where revenues more than doubled (compared to the same period in 2019), followed by Tajikistan (+85%) and Pakistan (+76%). ), Montenegro (+ 70%), North Macedonia (+ 60%) and Portugal (+ 57%). In addition, Turkey (+ 55%) and Colombia (+ 54%) recorded strong results.
In a related context, international tourism spending data reveal strong demand for foreign travel in the period from January to July 2024, especially from large source markets such as the United States (+ 32%) and Germany (+ 38%). , and the United Kingdom (+40% as of March), compared to the same period in 2019. Strong offshore spending was also reported by Australia (+34%), Canada (+28%), and Italy (+26%), throughout the month June 2024. Limited data for India shows a stunning increase in external spending, with 86% growth in the first quarter of 2024 (compared to the first quarter of 2019).
In addition In addition, data for 2023 show that export revenues from international tourism amounted to US$1.8 trillion (including revenue and passenger transport), almost the same level as before the pandemic (-1% in real terms compared to 2019). Direct tourism GDP also recovered from pre-pandemic levels in 2023, reaching an estimated US$3.4 trillion, equivalent to 3% of global GDP. In 2019, tourism directly contributed 4% of the global GDP.
The report concluded by noting that the United Nations Tourism Confidence Index expects positive performance for the latter part of Overall, at 120 points for the period from September to December 2024, although lower than the expectations for the period from May to August, which was 130 points (on a scale of 0 to 200, where 100 reflects equal expected performance)
