In 2023, tourist arrivals continued to grow in all continents around the world. UN Tourism expects to see most countries reaching pre-pandemic visitor figures in 2024
- 88% of pre-pandemic international tourist figures were recorded in 2023, up from 63% in 2022
- 700 million international travellers to Europe were recorded in 2023
- +22% The Middle-East enjoyed the fastest growth in tourist arrivals in 2023 of any region
In its latest barometer, UN Tourism expressed its satisfaction at the evolution of international tourist arrivals in 2023, confirming the uptrend seen in 2022.
Preliminary data from last year points to an estimated 1.286 billion international tourists (overnight visitors), an increase of 34% over 2022. This corresponds to 325 million additional international travellers. International tourism recovered 88% of pre-pandemic levels, supported by strong pent-up demand. In July, September and October 2023, arrivals even reached 92% of 2019 levels. External factors such as geo-political conflicts, inflation or the consequences of the climate change barely dented this positive evolution.
Analysing numbers by continent, Europe remains the biggest travel destination in the world. From the almost 1.3 billion international travellers recorded in 2023, Europe alone welcomed 700 million international travellers—a market share of 54.5%. The continent reached 94% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023. In just one year, international tourism to Europe improved its position by 15 percentage points. In 2022, tourist arrivals represented only 79% of 2019 numbers. The most dynamic sub-region was the Southern/Mediterranean region which already surpassed 2019 levels by 1.1%. Northern Europe also performed well with total international arrivals in 2023 only 1.6% below pre-pandemic numbers.
UN Tourism predicts that international tourism will fully surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2024, with initial estimates pointing to 2% growth compared to 2019.
The Middle-East was a “tourism star” in 2023. The region received 22% more international travellers than in 2019, reaching a total of 87.1 million travellers. The surge in tourist arrivals to Saudi Arabia contributed greatly to this performance.
Africa also performed well. International tourist arrivals to the continent managed to reach 96% of 2019 numbers at 66.4 million arrivals. The recovery was driven by a strong bouncing back of North Africa’s tourist arrivals. With 26.8 million international travellers recorded on its shores, North Africa was already 4.6% over its 2019 results.
The Americas managed to reach 90% of 2019 numbers last year, translating into a total of 198.3 million international travellers. While North America reached only 86.5% of its 2019 performance, Central America and the Caribbean outperformed 2019 tourist numbers by respectively 5.3% and 1.4% due to strong inter-regional demand.
With the complete lifting of travel restrictions, Asia-Pacific recorded the highest growth of any continent in 2023 at +155%. While the region welcomed 233.4 million international travellers, the figure is still 35% lower than total international arrivals in 2019. The recovery will continue in 2024, with UN Tourism predicting that international tourism will surpass pre-pandemic levels and initial estimates pointing to 2% growth compared to 2019.
Photo: © Artem Bryzgalov – Unsplash
International tourism receipts hit €1.3 trillion in 2023
UN Tourism highlights in its barometer that the value of the tourism sector approached 2019 levels, with international tourism receipts reaching approximately €1.3 trillion (US$1.4 trillion) in 2023 according to preliminary estimates, about 93% of the €1.39 trillion (US$ 1.5 trillion) earned by destinations in 2019. Total export revenues from tourism (including passenger transport) reached approximately €1.48 trillion (US$ 1.6 trillion) in 2023, almost 95% of the €1.57 trillion (US$ 1.7 trillion) recorded in 2019.
Meanwhile, the economic contribution of tourism, measured in tourism direct gross domestic product, points to roughly €3.06 trillion (US$ 3.3 trillion) in 2023, or 3% of global GDP—a number similar to pre-pandemic figures.
Pent-up travel demand stimulated air transport in 2023
Air transport in 2023 went a step closer to the record year of 2019, according to the IATA. Measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs, traffic rose 36.9% compared to 2022 and finished the year 2023 at 94.1% of pre-pandemic levels. International traffic’s recovery was however slower than that of domestic. This is mainly due to the slow reopening of Asian skies. In 2023, international traffic climbed 41.6% compared to 2022 and reached 88.6% of 2019 levels.
Passenger traffic market shares by region for 2023 in RPK were: Asia-Pacific 22.1%, Europe 30.8%, North America 28.8%, Middle East 9.8%, Latin America 6.4%, and Africa 2.1%.
