According to a report by Latin American News on December 14, as of September this year, the number of international tourists reached 975 million, indicating that the tourism industry has recovered to nearly 90% of pre-epidemic levels. The United Nations World Tourism Organization stated at its Madrid headquarters on the 14th that it is expected that the tourism industry will make substantial progress by the end of 2023.
According to the latest "World Tourism Barometer" released by the World Tourism Organization, in the third quarter of 2023, the world's major tourist destinations received a 22% increase in international tourists compared with the same period last year, reflecting the strong momentum of the northern hemisphere's summer tourism season.
Overall, from January to September 2023, the tourism industry recovered to 87% of pre-epidemic levels. The report said that the tourism industry is expected to recover nearly 90% by the end of this year.
According to sources, global tourism revenue will reach $1.4 trillion by 2023.
Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, said the latest data showed that the tourism industry has almost fully recovered from the unprecedented coronavirus crisis.
Comparatively speaking, improvement has been particularly striking in the Middle East, where tourist arrivals were 20% above pre-pandemic levels in the first nine months of 2023.
Europe is the world's largest tourist destination, hosting 550 million international tourists during the period, accounting for 56% of global tourist arrivals, driven by solid demand within the region and strong demand from the United States.
During the nine-month period, tourist arrivals in Africa returned to 92% of pre-pandemic levels, and arrivals in the Americas reached 88% of the same period in 2019.
Asia and the Pacific reached 62% of pre-pandemic levels during this period as international travel reopened slowly.
Compared with the same period in 2019, spending on outbound tourism increased by 13% in Germany and 11% in the United States, while Italy's spending through August increased by 16%.