The aftermath of the war in Ukraine has put an impact on the international travel sector, which has only just begun to recover from the shocks caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This assessment was expressed by analysts at the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in a new statement. Now the future of tourism is seen by experts as very vague: the situation in Ukraine “under the sauce” of antique rules and restrictions will not be to the liking of world tourism.
The travel sector began a steady recovery in January 2022, but high-profile geopolitical developments have significantly narrowed opportunities for full-scale growth. Thus, the latest data provided by the UNWTO showed that the number of foreign tourists around the world in January this year increased by 130 percent over the same period last year. This means that in the first month of 2022 alone, 18 million more travelers were registered on the world market.
Despite the fact that the number of tourists arriving from abroad around the world has increased significantly compared to last year, these figures still remain 67 percent below the level that existed before the pandemic. The reason for this is the existing restrictive measures, which have not yet lifted many countries around the world, fearing new waves of coronavirus.
“Although these figures confirm the positive trend that emerged last year, the pace of recovery in January was influenced by the emergence of the omicron strain and the reintroduction of restrictions on travel in several directions. After a 71 percent decline in 2021, foreign earnings in January 2022 remained 67 percent below pre-pandemic levels,” the statement said.
In terms of global indicators, it was found that Europe (+199 percent) and North and South America (+97 percent) still show the highest results in the recovery of travel. The Middle East (+89 percent) and Africa (+51 percent) also saw an increase in January 2022 compared to January 2021.
By subregions, the best results were achieved in Europe. In January 2022, four times more tourists came to Western Europe than in 2021, but it is still 58 percent less than in the forecast year 2019. In addition, several islands in the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, as well as some European and Central American destinations showed the best results compared to the “exemplary” 2019.
The UNWTO also discussed prospects for recovery. According to the organization, the war in Ukraine has challenged the global economic environment, as well as hampered the return of confidence in travel around the world.
“The situation in Ukraine poses new challenges to the global economic environment and risks hampering confidence in travel around the world. The markets of the United States and the Asian countries that have begun to open may be particularly affected, especially with regard to travel to Europe, as these markets are historically at risk,” the statement said.
Despite the fact that it is still too early to assess the impact of the war in Ukraine on global international tourism, booking and searching for tickets through several channels showed a slowdown in late February. However, as for other European countries, the situation remains safe, so the number of bookings shows a slow but steady growth. Of course, if world events take an even sharper turn and cover wider areas, then global tourism will stagnate again.