Global travel sector to fully recover only after 2024: WEF

The global travel sector was expecting 2022 to be the year for tourism activities to pick up, however, a survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF) revealed that the sector will not witness full recovery until 2024.

The survey by WEF, in collaboration with Statista that took into account views from the UNWTO Panel of Experts, found that the majority of the respondents are confident to see an uptick in travel activity this year. Just 4 percent of the surveyed experts expect a full recovery in 2022.

“Roughly one third of respondents believe that international arrivals will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, while 63 percent think it will take even longer than that,” the WEF said in its survey findings.

UNWTO scenarios predict international tourist arrivals could grow between 30 and 78 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. However, it would still be more than 50 percent below pre-pandemic levels.