UNWTO says prospects for int’l tourism revival remain mixed

• Majority of experts expect last 4 months of 2021 to be worse than expected
• Survey results establish that 2022 will be year of rebound for global tourism

Prospects for the revival of international tourism remain mixed for the September-December 2021 period, the UNWTO Panel of Experts survey revealed, as the majority of the respondents expect the period will be worse than expected, despite the opening of the international borders for travel.  The survey result that was released along with the latest edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer yesterday revealed that 53 percent of respondents believe the period will be worse than expected, while only 31 percent of experts expect better results towards the end of the year.  “This shows that most tourism professionals continue to expect a rebound driven by unleashed pent-up demand for international travel in 2022, mostly during the second and third quarters,” the UNWTO said in a release.Meanwhile, the UNTWO World Tourism Barometer that was released yesterday showed that international tourism witnessed a rebound this June and July, with approximately 54 million travellers crossing borders.

Although the figure is 64 percent down, when compared with July 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, it is the strongest results since April 2020.

 “This compares to an estimated 34 million international arrivals recorded in July 2020, though well below the 164 million figure recorded in 2019,” the UNWTO said.

The UNWTO barometer shared that most destinations reporting data for June and July 2021 saw a moderate rebound in international arrivals, compared to 2020. 

Nevertheless, 2021 continues to be a challenging year for global tourism, with international arrivals down 80 percent in January-July, compared to 2019, it said.

Yet to gather momentum is Asia and the Pacific, which continued to suffer the weakest results in the January to July period, with a 95 percent drop in international arrivals, compared to 2019. 

Small islands in the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, together with a few small European destinations recorded the best performance in June and July, with arrivals close to or sometimes exceeding pre-pandemic levels.