Between January and March 2022, destinations across the world welcomed an estimated 117 million international arrivals compared to 41 million in Q1 2021
World tourism recovery continues at a strong pace and visitor arrivals at destinations globally have seen a massive 182 per cent Year-onYear (YoY) increase in the first quarter of the year 2022 in comparison to the same period last year, according to the recent UNWTO data report, reported by ETTravelWorld.
Between January and March 2022, destinations across the world welcomed an estimated 117 million international arrivals compared to 41 million in Q1 2021. According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, Europe welcomed almost four times as many international arrivals (+280 per cent) as in Q1 of 2021, with results-driven by strong intra-regional demand. In the Americas, arrivals more than doubled (+117 per cent) in the same three months. The Middle East (+132 per cent) and Africa (+96 per cent) also saw strong growth in Q1 2022 compared to 2021. While Asia and the Pacific region recorded a 64 per cent increase over 2021.
International tourist arrivals are now expected to reach 55 per cent to 70 per cent of 2019 levels in 2022, depending on several circumstances including the rate at which destinations continue to lift travel restrictions
Of the extra 76 million total international arrivals for the first three months of 2022, about 47 million were recorded in March, showing that the recovery has been gathering pace. However, in comparison to numbers in 2019, recovery is still lagging and will take some time. Arrivals in Europe and the Americas were still 43 per cent and 46 per cent below 2019 levels respectively. Visitor arrivals remained 59 per cent and 61 per cent below 2019 levels respectively for the Middle East and Africa Regions. In Asia and the Pacific region, again, levels were 93 per cent below 2019 numbers as several destinations remained closed to non-essential travel.
Although international tourism remains 61 per cent below 2019 levels, the gradual recovery is expected to continue throughout 2022, as more destinations ease or lift travel restrictions and pent-up demand is unleashed. As of June 2, 45 destinations (of which 31 are in Europe) had no Covid-19 related restrictions in place. In Asia, an increasing number of destinations have started to ease those restrictions.
UNWTO has revised its outlook for 2022 due to stronger-than-expected results in the first quarter of 2022, a significant increase in flight reservations, and prospects from its Confidence Index report. International tourist arrivals are now expected to reach 55 per cent to 70 per cent of 2019 levels in 2022, depending on several circumstances including the rate at which destinations continue to lift travel restrictions.
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