The number of international tourist arrivals continued to grow in early 2022 after falling by 70% due to the pandemic, in January the increase was 130% compared to the same month a year earlier, according to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
“The number of international tourist arrivals in January increased by 18 million or 130% compared to the same month in 2021. While these figures confirm the positive trend that emerged last year, the recovery of international tourism continues to be hampered by covid restrictions that persist in many countries. In 2021 In 2020, the number of arrivals decreased by 71%, in January 2022 the decrease was 67%,” the report says.
The best results, according to the UNWTO, are in Europe and America, where the number of arrivals increased by 2000 and 100% respectively. But these numbers are still just over 50% behind pre-pandemic flows.
In the Middle East, arrivals increased by 90% in the first month of the year, and by 51% in Africa. This is 63 and 66% less than in 2019. The Asia-Pacific region is recovering the slowest, as several countries remain closed to tourists. The increase in the number of arrivals here amounted to 44%.
But what will happen to tourism after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the UN World Tourism Organization does not analyze.