The Middle East experienced the most remarkable recovery in travel in 2022, with arrival numbers bouncing back to 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, a ten percent decrease compared to 2019, according to the World Tourism Organization.
Europe followed with a 20 percent drop compared to 2019, and the Americas with a 29 percent decline as the pandemic waned and traveler confidence resurged, VisaGuide.World reports.
International tourism receipts for worldwide destinations showed signs of improvement in 2021, although they still fell significantly short of the levels seen in 2019, the pre-pandemic year.
In 2021, the Middle East and Europe showed strong growth in terms of international tourism receipts, with 42 percent and 23 percent increases compared to 2020, as calculated in local currencies and constant prices.
However, in 2021, both the Middle East and Europe remained behind by 37 percent and 47 percent, respectively, compared to 2019 levels.
While the Middle East saw some travel recovery in 2022 and 2021 compared to the challenging year of 2020, the pandemic significantly impacted the region’s tourism.
Over the span of 2020, 2021, and 2022, there was a cumulative loss of 110 million international tourist arrivals, resulting in a combined loss of $140 billion in tourism export revenues and $120 billion in direct tourism GDP during those years.
In the Middle East, in 2019, there were 73,019,000 international tourist arrivals. This number dropped to 19,823,000 in 2020, followed by a rebound to 24,909,000 in 2021, and further increased to 65,613,000 in 2022.
The comparisons show a 72.9 percent decrease comparing 2020 to 2019, a 65.9 percent decrease from 2021 to 2019, and a 10.1 percent increase from 2022 to 2019.
Among Middle Eastern countries, in 2022, the United Arab Emirates took the lead with a remarkable 22,654,000 international tourist arrivals, surpassing 2019 figures by 5.1 percent.
Marking a 19.8 percent increase compared to pre-pandemic levels, Qatar displayed remarkable progress, with 2,560,000 international tourist arrivals in 2022.
International tourism receipts in the Middle East present a dynamic trend. They began at $99,218 million in 2019, dropped to $43,538 million in 2020, then rebounded in 2021 to reach $62,465 million, and continued to rise, culminating at $75,872 million in 2022.
The changes over the years, calculated in local currencies, reflect significant shifts. The drop from 2020 to 2019 was substantial, at 56 percent. In contrast, 2021 witnessed a 37.5 percent increase compared to 2019, while 2022 showed a 29.2 percent decrease when compared to 2019.
Of particular note is Saudi Arabia’s increase in international tourism receipts, reaching $23,475 million, marking a substantial 42.9 percent increase compared to 2019.