By Lilit Marcus, CNN
Photo: 123RF
Feel like airport security lines keep getting longer, or that you are booking hotel reservations way further in advance than you used to?
It is true. The UN's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has just released its 2024 year-in-review data, confirming that the tourism industry has bounced back from the pandemic.
About 1.4 billion people travelled internationally last year, which is 99 percent of the number who did the same in 2019, the last full year before Covid-19 hit the world.
That amounted to US$1.9 trillion being spent in the tourism industry, meaning each tourist spent more than $1,000 per person on average.
But where did people go?
Overall, Europe was the most-visited continent with 747 million tourists in 2024, according to the UNWTO.
That number was especially impressive considering that Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine kept travellers away from parts of the region, notes the tourism body in its report.
France was the world's most-visited nation in 2024, with 100 million tourists, according to figures recently released by the country's tourism board. Spain made a strong showing with 98 million tourists to land in second place.
"2024 was an exceptional year for French tourism, promising prospects for 2025!" Atout France, the country's national tourism marketing department, said in a statement.
The statement cited the 2024 Summer Olympics, the re-opening of Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral, and the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy as three major events that people traveled to France for in the past year.
Meanwhile, the UNWTO reports that 316 million people travelled to Asia and the Pacific in 2024, 213 million went to the Americas, 95 million to the Middle East and 74 million to Africa. There was no data on tourism to Antarctica.
Small countries, big gains
The usual big tourism players were not the only ones with rising tourist numbers.
In the Middle East, Qatar experienced an impressive 137 percent increase in tourists. Much of that was fuelled by the country's investment in infrastructure: Qatar Airways was named the world's best airline in 2024, while Doha's Hamad International snagged the title of the world's best airport.
Other smaller countries celebrated big wins for tourism last year, including Andorra, the micro-state on the France-Spain border, as well as the Dominican Republic, Kuwait, Albania and El Salvador.
Looking to 2025 and beyond
Global tourism is not just returning to previous highs - it seems to be on an upward trajectory.
Spain, the world's second most visited country, marked 2024 with several major anti-tourist movements: residents shooting water pistols at travellers in Barcelona, Seville weighing an entry fee and mass protests in the Canary Islands, among others.
In Italy, which had 23 percent year-over-year growth, the popular cities of Venice and Florence have both banned large tour groups. Around the country, overtourism prevention measures took a variety of forms, including night swimming bans, "stoplights" to indicate when an area was too crowded and rules prohibiting people from reserving coveted beach spaces with umbrellas the night before.
In its annual release, the UNWTO's panel of experts cautioned that "balancing growth and sustainability will be critical in 2025" and advised "the discovery of lesser-known destinations."
Atout France also tempered its celebrations for being the world's most-visited country, stating that its goal is "to make France the world's leading destination for sustainable tourism."
-CNN
