The year 2024 marked the recovery of international tourism from the worst crisis in the sector’s history, with 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals recorded globally, according to the UN Tourism.
A majority of destinations welcomed more international tourists in 2024 than they did before the pandemic, while visitor spending also continued to grow strongly, it said.
The latest World Tourism Barometer showed an estimated 1.4 billion tourists travelled internationally in 2024, indicating a virtual recovery (99 percent) of pre-pandemic levels.
This represented an increase of 11 percent over 2023, or 140 million more international tourist arrivals, with results driven by strong post-pandemic demand, robust performance from large source markets and the ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia and the Pacific.
Growth is expected to continue throughout 2025, driven by strong demand contributing to the socio-economic development of both mature and emerging destinations. This recalls our immense responsibility as a sector to accelerate transformation, placing people and planet at the center of the development of tourism
The Middle East (95 million arrivals) remained the strongest-performing region when compared to 2019, with international arrivals 32 percent above pre-pandemic levels in 2024, though 1 percent higher compared to 2023.
Africa (74 million) welcomed 7 percent more arrivals than in 2019, and 12 percent more than in 2023.
Europe, the world’s largest destination region, saw 747 million international arrivals in 2024 (+1 percent above 2019 levels and 5 percent over 2023) supported by strong intraregional demand. All European subregions surpassed pre-pandemic levels, except for Central and Eastern Europe where many destinations are still suffering from the lingering effects of the Russian aggression on Ukraine.
The Americas (213 million) recovered 97 percent of pre-pandemic arrivals (-3 percent over 2019), with the Caribbean and Central America already exceeding 2019 levels. Compared to 2023, the region saw 7 percent growth.
Asia and the Pacific (316 million) continued to experience a rapid recovery in 2024, though arrival numbers were still 87 percent of pre-pandemic levels, an improvement from 66 percent at the end of 2023. International arrivals grew 33 percent in 2024, an increase of 78 million from 2023.
