This week, UNWTO, the United Nations World Tourism Organization published a report on World Tourism in 2021. The report states that worldwide; “International tourist arrivals were still 72% down compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019”. The year 2020 being “the worst year on record for tourism, when international arrivals decreased by 73%” said UNWTO.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
World Tourism in 2021
The first UNWTO “World Tourism Barometer” of 2022 indicates that increased vaccination rates, coupled with the easing of travel restrictions, have both helped satisfy the tourist demand and help get more of them traveling again.
As a result, there was a moderate rebound of international tourists during the second half of 2021, with international arrivals down 62% in both the third and fourth quarters compared to pre-pandemic levels. According to limited data, international arrivals in December were 65% below 2019 levels. The full impact of the Omicron variant and surge in COVID-19 cases is yet to be seen.
The uneven recovery, region by region, is largely as a result of an equally uneven mobility restrictions, vaccination rates and traveler confidence.
Even the regions with the better 2021 results; Europe at +19% and the Americas at +17% (2021 over 2020) remain at 63% under 2019 levels.
Central America
Central America at +54% (2021 over 2020) also enjoyed a significant rebound but remain 56% down when compared to 2019 levels
Nicaragua
The report doesn’t get into individual countries. The latest full year numbers for Nicaragua (available locally) in a previous Nica-Biz article “Nicaragua Tourism Statistics for 2020, Includes 2016-2020” showed annual revenues for 2020 at US $198.5 million, 61.5% down from the US $513.3 million for 2019).
Other Sub-Regions
Within the main regions, the Caribbean were +63% above 2020, however -37% against 2019.
North America (+17%) and Central Eastern Europe (+18%) also climbed above 2020 levels.
Southern Mediterranean Europe were at +57%.
Highlighting the fact that increased vaccination rates in a region play a big part in tourist confidence, Africa (trailing behind in vaccinations) only experienced a 12% increase in arrivals in 2021 compared to 2020 and was74% below 2019.
In the Middle East arrivals declined 24% compared to 2020 and 79% over 2019.
Asia and the Pacific arrivals were 65% below 2020 levels and 94% when compared to pre-pandemic numbers with many destinations closed to non-essential travel.
Spending
Measured in tourism direct gross domestic product, tourism contributed an estimated US $1.9 trillion in 2021. Better than the US $1.6 trillion in 2020, however way below the US $ 3.5 trillion for 2019.
Outlook for 2022
According to the latest UNWTO Panel of Experts, most tourism professionals (61%) see better prospects for 2022. While 58% expect a rebound in 2022, mostly during the third quarter, 42% point to a potential rebound only in 2023. A majority of experts (64%) now expect international arrivals to return to 2019 levels only in 2024 or later, up from 45% in the September survey – UNWTO
Click here for the Full UNWTO News Release
Or here for the news release in PDF format
