The sector has been hit hard by the pandemic
Tourism flows around the world are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels no earlier than 2024, the United Nations World Tourism Organization said.
The highly contagious version of Omicron, albeit a mild one, will “disrupt recovery” in early 2022, after a 4 per cent increase over 2020 last year, according to the UN’s Madrid-based World Tourism Barometer.
Revenues from tourism in 2020 decreased by 72% compared to the previous year – which ended with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The pace of recovery remains slow and uneven across regions of the world due to varying degrees of mobility restrictions, vaccination rates and travelers’ confidence,” the agency said in a statement.
In Europe and North and South America, tourists increased by 19% and 17% respectively last year compared to 2020.
However, in the Middle East, they fell by 24% in 2021, while in the Asia-Pacific region they were 65% below 2020 levels and 94% below pre-pandemic levels.
The statement said tourism experts “see slightly better prospects” for this year after the turmoil in the first months due to the Omicron wave.
