ITB Berlin News spoke with Zoritsa Urosevic, UN Tourism Executive Director, in an exclusive interview ahead of her keynote tomorrow
The UN Tourism Barometer for 2024 shows that tourism is back and thriving. Next on the agenda is the World Tourism Report Index, which will measure sustainability through a number of data-driven factors.
Can you share some of the highlights of the 2024 year world results?
We have achieved 99% of recovery against 2019, with 1.9 trillion USD in receipts. What is interesting too is that we have gone beyond the receipts when it comes to expenditure. We are up by 103% over 2019, with fewer visitors. This is a very strong message that tourism is doing really well.Of course there are uneven patterns of recovery depending on the region, and when they reopened their borders, such as Asia Pacific. They are a little bit lower on the recovery curve when it comes to the numbers, about minus 13% compared to 2019. But they had a huge acceleration over the last year at 33%. China introduced some visa facilitation, which has been very positive.
The region that has grown the most during this period is the Middle East with 32% in the last year. Africa is up 7% and Europe 1%. What we have to bear in mind is that Europe represents 52% of total tourism, so 52% of 1.4 billion still means an increase of 140 million tourists over last year.
For the Americas, they are at 97% of recovery, with 7% growth. We anticipate growth in the year to come to be quite solid, around 3-5%.
“Data is required to influence decision making. Decision making is then reflected in policy framework, which needs to be consulted and empowered by business needs because tourism is also trade. “
What are the key challenges predicted by UN Tourism Barometer experts?
The key challenges are prices, due to inflation, as well as geopolitical and economic dynamics. We know that the cost of hospitality and transport have increased, so this is definitely a challenge, despite the fact that people continue to travel.
Geopolitical threats and extreme weather are reflected in the confidence index that we have and when people feel threatened they would rather spend than save, so this is a trend to keep an eye on.
Another challenge is the shortage of human resources. In 2024, the UN General Assembly and the ECOSOC, the UN Statistical Commission, validated that we should be accounting officially for employment data and statistics. We are collecting and will be publishing this as a full part of the reporting on tourism. It’s a very important social and socioeconomic element and highlights that tourism really is a people-driven industry.
How can the sustainability of tourism be most accurately measured? And what role do data-driven policies and trade innovation play in this process?
I’m really proud of the achievement of UN Tourism in the sphere of data. After seven years of work, we are the first organisation to present the framework for measuring sustainability, beyond GDP, to the UN Statistical Commission. In 1944, the world decided on the formula for calculating GDP to compare world progress in the sphere of economy, allowing countries to measure tourism GDP within the national GDP. Now we have a new framework with indicators on economy, environment and society, which we are developing and refining in the number of indicators, because the collection of data is very complex. It’s not the same in every country, but this provides the statistical framework for measuring the sustainability of tourism, and is the first in the world that measures beyond GDP.
Many countries have contributed to this work. We were driving, setting the path and facilitating, providing input, but I think this achievement is very important because the reason why data is required is to influence decision making. Decision making is then reflected in policy framework, which needs to be consulted and empowered by business needs because tourism is also trade. In 2019, we were the third export earning category in the world after fuel and chemicals. Post-COVID, we are now in fifth position.
We are currently preparing the first World Tourism Report Index, which will single out the principle of sustainability using indicators and data. We will see the performance of countries through data, allowing us to compare them with the policies in place. This will be a toolkit that can even help member states evaluate where they stand and maybe where they should be heading.
A scientific approach to sustainability
When asked who should attend her conference at ITB Berlin today, Ms Urosevic highlighted that she believed it would be relevant for everyone in the industry, from destinations to local authorities, transport and airlines to tour operators and more. “At UN Tourism, our sphere of influence and support is tourism industries, and that includes all of the people in the sector.” She also highlighted that on the world stage today, and especially when it comes to questions of tackling sustainability, “Much more capacity, responsibility and leadership are being given to regions and regional local authorities.”
The UN Tourism Executive Director emphasised the importance of statistics and strategies for the road forward: “We really need a science-driven agenda for tourism, which now is demonstrating its value and results. This means environmental science, economic science and social science. They are all very important.”
Keynote
From Baku (COP29) to Belem (COP30): Towards a Global Partnership for Enhanced Climate Action in Tourism
Hall 7.1a / Orange Stage
