MADRID -- In the first nine months of 2024, 1 billion tourists travelled to international destinations, reaching out 98% of pre-pandemic levels. According to the latest UN Tourism World Tourism Barometer, it is expected to fully recover by the end of the year, despite current economic, geopolitical, and climatic challenges.

UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “The strong growth seen in tourism receipts is excellent news for economies around the world. The fact that visitor spending is growing even stronger than arrivals has a direct impact on millions of jobs and small businesses and contributes decisively to the balance of payments and tax revenues of many economies.”

Regional Tourism Performance

Asia and the Pacific reached 85% of 2019 levels, compared to a 66% recovery in 2023. The region has experienced a gradual rebound in arrivals since reopening to international tourism in 2023.

The Middle East (+29% compared to 2019) continued to enjoy record growth this nine-month period, while Europe (+1%) and Africa (+6%) also exceeded 2019 levels.

The Americas recovered 97% of its pre-pandemic arrivals (-3% over 2019).

Direct Impact of Tourism: Extraordinary Growth

In the first nine months of 2024, 35 out of 43 countries with available data on tourism revenues exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with many recordings double-digit growth compared to 2019, far outpacing inflation in most cases. Notable examples include Serbia (99%), as well as Pakistan (64%), Romania (61%) and Japan (59%).

Among the top tourism revenue generators, Japan (59%), Turkey (41%), and France (27%) saw double-digit growth through September 2024. Spain (36%) and Italy (26%) also reported significant increases.

Data on international tourism spending reflects the same trend, especially among major source markets like Germany (35%), the United States (33%), and France (11%). Available data for India shows a significant increase in outbound spending from this increasingly important market, with an 81% growth through June 2024 (compared to 2019).