World tourism won’t bounce back to pre-Covid levels until 2024, says UN report

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The world tourism industry improved only a wee bit last year compared to 2020, with all indicators staying way below pre-pandemic levels and industry professionals not expecting a full recovery before 2024, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said on Tuesday.</p>
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The tourism industry suffered a huge blow in 2020 as a result of lockdowns and travel restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, which made people around the world limit their activity and lose their livelihoods.</p>
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"The pace of recovery remains slow and uneven across world regions due to varying degrees of mobility restrictions, vaccination rates and traveller confidence," the report said.</p>
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The world tourism industry is not expected to return to its pre-pandemic levels until 2024, the World Tourism Organization said Tuesday.</p>
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Rising vaccination rates and the easing of travel restrictions did allow a small rebound in the second half of 2021, the Madrid-based UN agency said in a report, but the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant in December triggered another dip in both travel bookings.</p>
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The highly contagious Omicron variant, though mild, will "disrupt the recovery" in early 2022 although there was a 4% growth last year over a dismal 2020, UNWTO states.</p>
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Tourism revenue plunged 72 per cent in 2020 compared to the previous year.</p>
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"The economic contribution of tourism in 2021 is estimated at $1.9 trillion, above the $1.6 trillion in 2020, but still far below the pre-pandemic value of $3.5 trillion," the statement noted.</p>
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"The pace of recovery remains slow and uneven across world regions due to varying degrees of mobility restrictions, vaccination rates and traveller confidence," the UNWTO said report said.</p>
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In Europe and the Americas, foreign visitor arrivals went up by 19 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, last year over 2020.</p>
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In the Middle East, however, arrivals fell by 24 per cent in 2021, while in the Asia-Pacific region they were 65 per cent below 2020 levels, and 94 per cent less than pre-pandemic levels.</p>
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The UN agency forecasts a 30 to 78 per cent rise in international arrivals this year over 2021, while remaining far below 2019 levels.</p>
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Most experts say they do not foresee a return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2024, it said.</p>
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