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Within January 2022, International tourism has outperformed its preceding year 2021 by showing a brighter prospect for the industry in the months to follow.
Coupled with COVID-19 related travel restrictions, the Russian invasion of Ukraine adds on to existing economic uncertainties.
Based on the latest data provided by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, global international tourist arrivals increased up to 130% in January 2022 compared to 2021. 18 million more visitors have been recorded worldwide in the first month of this year, equaling the total increase for the entirety of 2021.
While these figures confirm the positive trend of tourism already, it is important to mark that the pace of recovery in January was impacted substantially by the emergence of the Omicron Variant and the travel restrictions that followed its course.
As of now, international arrivals pose the strongest results in Europe (up 199%) and the Americas (up 97%). Yet these numbers are still 53% and 52% below pre-pandemic levels respectively.
Moreover, the war in Ukraine poses new challenges to the global economic environment and risks hampering the return of confidence in global travel.
The US and the Asian source markets, which have started to open up, could be particularly impacted especially regarding travel to Europe, as these markets are historically more risk averse. The shutdown of Ukrainian and Russian airspace, as well as the ban on Russian carriers by many European countries is affecting intra-European travel. It is also causing detours in long-haul flights between Europe and East Asia, which translates into longer flights and higher costs.
