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With 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals recorded globally, 2024 marked the recovery of international tourism from the worst crisis in the sector’s history. A majority of destinations welcomed more international tourists in 2024 than they did before the pandemic, while visitor spending also continued to grow strongly.
According to the latest World Tourism Barometer from UN Tourism, an estimated 1.4 billion tourists travelled internationally in 2024, indicating a virtual recovery (99 per cent) of pre-pandemic levels. This represents an increase of 11 per cent 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.
By subregions, North Africa and Central America saw the strongest performance in 2024, with 22 per cent and 17 per cent more international arrivals than before the pandemic.
Southern Mediterranean Europe (+8 per cent) and the Caribbean (+7 per cent) also enjoyed robust growth, as did Northern Europe (+5 per cent) and Western Europe (+2 per cent).
“In 2024, global tourism completed its recovery from the pandemic and, in many places, tourist arrivals and specially earnings are already higher than in 2019,” says UN Tourism secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili.
“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.”
Most destinations reporting monthly data continued to enjoy strong results in 2024, with a majority exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Available data for the first 10 to 12 months of 2024 shows several destinations reporting double-digit growth compared to 2019.
Positive outlook for 2025 points to continued growth
- International tourist arrivals are expected to grow 3 per cent to 5 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024, assuming a continued recovery of Asia and the Pacific and solid growth in most other regions. This initial projection assumes global economic conditions remain favorable, inflation continues to recede, and geopolitical conflicts do not escalate.
- The outlook reflects a stabilization of growth rates after a strong rebound in international arrivals in 2023 (+33 per cent vs 2022) and 2024 (+11 per cent vs 2023).
- The latest UN Tourism Confidence Index confirms these positive expectations. Around 64 per cent of UN Tourism Panel of Experts see ‘better’ or ‘much better’ prospects for 2025 compared to 2024. Some 26 per cent expect similar performance in their destination, while only 9 per cent believe 2025 be ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’ than last year.
- However, economic and geopolitical headwinds continue to pose significant risks. More than half of respondents point to high transport and accommodation costs and other economic factors such as volatile oil prices, as the main challenges international tourism will face in 2025. Against this backdrop, tourists are expected to continue to seek value for money.
- Geopolitical risks (aside from ongoing conflicts) are a growing concern among the Panel of Experts, which ranked them as the third main factor after the economic ones. Extreme weather events and staff shortages are also critical challenges, ranking fourth and fifth among the factors identified by the Panel of Experts.
- Balancing growth and sustainability will be critical in 2025, as reflected by two major trends identified by the Panel of Experts: the search for sustainable practices and the discovery of lesser-known destinations.
