International tourism reaches 97% of pre-virus levels in Q1

By Tuba Ongun

International tourism reached 97% of its pre-pandemic level in the first quarter of this year, the UN Tourism said on Tuesday.

More than 285 million tourists traveled internationally in January-March, rising 20% from the previous year, it said.

While export revenues from tourism remained at 97%, direct tourism GDP reached the same levels as in 2019.

The UN specialized agency for tourism expects international tourism to fully recover in 2024 with arrivals exceeding 2% of 2019 levels.

Europe, the world's largest destination region, surpassed pre-virus levels in a quarter for the first time, up 1% to 120 million international tourists in the first three months of the year, backed by robust intra-regional demand.

The Middle East saw the strongest relative growth, with international arrivals exceeding by 36% pre-pandemic levels this January-March.

Contrary to other regions, Asia and the Pacific has not fully recovered yet despite a strong growth in international tourist figure. Arrivals reached 82% of its 2019 first-quarter level.