- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Nobel winners hope protein work will spur 'incredible' breakthroughs
- What are proteins again? Nobel-winning chemistry explained
- AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
- Demis Hassabis, from chess prodigy to Nobel-winning AI pioneer
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
- Time runs out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Chad issues warning ahead of more devastating floods
- Creator's death no bar to new 'Dragon Ball' products
- Chinese stocks tumble on lack of fresh stimulus
- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
RBGPF | -2.48% | 59.33 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.01% | 6.9 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.17% | 24.81 | $ | |
RIO | -0.54% | 66.3 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.04% | 24.65 | $ | |
VOD | 0.77% | 9.735 | $ | |
SCS | 1.92% | 13.03 | $ | |
NGG | -0.33% | 65.685 | $ | |
JRI | 0.34% | 13.205 | $ | |
BCC | 0.45% | 142.66 | $ | |
RELX | 0.28% | 46.77 | $ | |
BCE | -0.52% | 33.337 | $ | |
BTI | 0.71% | 35.472 | $ | |
GSK | 5.82% | 40.37 | $ | |
AZN | 0.82% | 77.505 | $ | |
BP | 0.02% | 32.035 | $ |
International tourist arrivals doubled in 2022: UN
International tourist arrivals doubled in 2022 over the previous year, and should reach near pre-pandemic levels in 2023 thanks to the lifting of travel restrictions, especially in China, the UN's tourism body said Tuesday.
There were 917 million global tourist arrivals last year, up from 455 million in 2021, the Madrid-based World Tourism Organization said in a report, calling it "stronger than expected results".
While the number of international arrivals last year was still just 63 percent of the level posted in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the UN body predicts it could reach 80 percent to 95 percent in 2023.
"A new year brings more reason for optimism for global tourism," the body's secretary-general, Zurab Pololikashvili, said in a statement.
The report said international tourism is set to consolidate its recovery in 2023, backed by pent-up demand, particularly from Asia and the Pacific as destinations and markets open up.
"In the short term, the resumption of travel from China is likely to benefit Asian destinations in particular," it added.
"At the same time, robust demand from the United States, backed by a strong US dollar, will continue to benefit destinations in the region and beyond. Europe, in particular, will benefit."
Travel in and out of China dropped dramatically from 2019 levels under Beijing's strict Covid curbs which all-but shut China's borders for three years before they were reopened earlier this month.
The restrictions had left a gaping hole in the Asian travel market, where countries from Thailand to Japan had depended on China as their largest source of foreign visitors.
Analysts expect Chinese airlines are likely to make significant increases to capacity from the end of March, with the start of the summer scheduling season.
China was the world's largest outbound tourist market in 2019 and the removal of its virus travel restrictions "is a significant and much welcomed step to the recovery of the tourism sector," the report said.
But the UN body warned that high inflation and interest rates, fears of a global recession and the "uncertainty derived from the Russian aggression against Ukraine" could hamper the recovery of the sector in 2023.
"Tourists are expected to increasingly seek value for money and travel close to home in response to the challenging economic environment," it added.
- Strong spending -
Europe, the world's most popular destination region, recorded 585 million arrivals last year, nearly 80 percent of its pre-pandemic level, due in part to a "particularly strong" summer season.
But Africa and the Americas only recovered to about 65 percent of pre-pandemic visitors, while Asia and the Pacific region reached only 23 percent due to stronger pandemic-related restrictions.
Most destinations also recorded "notable increases" in international tourism receipts, buoyed by people going on vacation for longer periods, a willingness to spend more on travel and rising costs due to inflation.
Traditional markets, like France and Germany, and emerging markets like India and Saudi Arabia, posted "strong" spending numbers last year.
Several destinations, including Mexico, Portugal and Romania, even reported tourism receipts above their pre-pandemic levels last year.
H.Cho--CPN