Global tourism returns to pre-pandemic levels

Madrid. After four years of difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, global tourism recovered last year to its record level of 2019, thanks to the strong appetite for travel, especially in Europe and Asia, despite persistent international tensions.

According to an estimate published yesterday by UN Tourism, around 1.4 billion tourists traveled abroad in 2024, 11 percent more than in 2023 and a figure identical to that of 2019, the last year before the coronavirus pandemic.

This dynamic was accompanied by a strong increase in tourism income, which reached 1.6 trillion dollars, 3 percent more than in 2023 and 4 percent more than in 2019, considering inflation and exchange rate fluctuations.

In 2024, global tourism completes its recovery from the pandemicthe Secretary General of UN Tourism, Zurab Pololikashvili, stressed in a statement, and highlighted that several regions exceeded the 2019 figures.

In Europe, the world’s main tourist destination, 747 million international arrivals were registered, 5 percent more than in 2023 and one percent more than in 2019, thanks, among other factors, to strong intraregional demand.

The number of international travelers in the Middle East increased 32 percent from its pre-pandemic level, thanks to the popularity of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as well as in North Africa (22 percent) and Central America (17).

According to the agency in charge of promoting tourism in the world, the Asia-Pacific region was the one that registered the largest increase in influx in one year in 2024 (33 percent), thanks to the lifting of health restrictions in China.

The increase in tourism has triggered tensions in recent months in numerous countries, including Japan and Spain, the second world destination after France, which received a record number of 94 million tourists in 2024.

The concentration of visitors in a limited number of destinations is causing congestion problems, as well as an increase in accommodation prices, as many homeowners prefer to rent their homes to tourists.

Another concern is the environmental impact of mass tourism. According to a study published in the journal Nature In December, tourism-related greenhouse gas emissions are rising twice as fast as those of the rest of the economy.