Americas: 213 million arrivals, 97% of 2019. The Caribbean and Central America are already ahead of their 2019 baselines. Asia and the Pacific: 316 million arrivals, still 13% below 2019, yet up 33% on 2023 which translates to an extra 78 million visitors in a single year. “In 2024 global tourism completed its recovery from the pandemic and, in many places, tourist arrivals and especially earnings are already higher than in 2019. Growth is expected to continue throughout 2025, which recalls our immense responsibility to put people and planet at the centre of development.” UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili Shifting tourism spend International tourism receipts reached 1.6 trillion USD in 2024, 4% more than 2019 in real terms and 3% above 2023. Add passenger transport and total tourism export reach a record value of 1.9 trillion USD. Average spending per international arrival is gradually normalising. Behind the headline figures lie big spending winners: Kuwait (+232% in receipts over 2019), El Salvador (+206% ), Saudi Arabia (+148%), Albania (+136%), Serbia (+98%), Republic of Moldova (+86%), and Canada (+70%). On the outbound side, households in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, and France all spent at least 11% more abroad than in 2019. Indian travellers spent 81% per cent more during the first half of 2024 alone. THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT This development has brought many aspects also in a European context. The EU‘s tourism ecosystem is highly diverse and complex, covering globalised and interconnected value chains. It comprises businesses in several sectors, including food and beverage services, online information and services providers (e.g. tourist offices or digital platforms), travel agents and tour operators, accommodation suppliers, destination managing organisations, attractions and passenger transport (such as airlines and airports, trains, busses and boats). Despite the notable disparities between EU countries, tourism represents an important part of the EU’s overall economy. In 2019, it represented nearly 10% of the EU GDP and accounted for around 23 million jobs in the Union. Just like for the other ecosystems, the update of the EU industrial strategy underlined the need to accelerate the green and digital transitions further and increase the resilience of EU tourism. To that end, the European Commission proposed to co-create a transition pathway with industry, public authorities, social partners and other stakeholders. On 4 February 2022, the Commission published the transition pathway for tourism. The 6
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