The tourism sector has reached pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels

The UN World Tourism Organization also listed Turkey among the countries with the largest tourism revenues, with a 41 percent increase in 2024 compared to 2019.

The United Nations (UN) World Tourism Organization announced that 1.1 billion tourists traveled to international destinations in the first nine months of 2024 and that the tourism sector has recovered by reaching 98 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels. The report released by the UN World Tourism Organization, headquartered in Madrid, the capital of Spain, stated that despite economic, geopolitical and climatic challenges, the tourism sector will fully recover by the end of this year and reach the level of pre-pandemic data.

According to the data, in the first nine months of 2024, the number of international tourists increased significantly worldwide due to the demand in Europe following the pandemic 4 years ago, the strong performance of major source markets, and the recovery in Asia and the Pacific, as well as the increase in flight destinations and visa facilities. On the other hand, it was shared that this year’s tourism revenues also exceeded the levels of 2019. Among the countries with the largest tourism revenues, it was noted that there was an increase of 59 percent in Japan, 43 percent in the UK, 41 percent in Turkey, 36 percent in Spain, 27 percent in France, and 26 percent in Italy in 2024 compared to 2019.

“excellent news for world economIes”

World Tourism Organization Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, who predicted that the number of tourists and tourism revenues worldwide will reach record levels by the end of the year, made the following assessment of the report: “The strong growth observed in global tourism is excellent news for world economies. Increased tourist spending has a direct impact on millions of jobs and small businesses, and contributes decisively to increased tax revenues in many economies.”