Exclusive: International tourism bounces back with Europe leading the pack
The Covid-19 pandemic forced international tourism to grind to a halt. Borders were closed, airlines shut down and, for a while, many were worried that the industry would never recover, such was the financial damage of global lockdown.
But after a difficult pandemic year, tourism is once again on the rise with Europe and the Americas benefitting from the sharpest rise in international visitors in the last six months.
According to data from travel agent Butter, shared with City PM today, a very difficult 2020 has actually turned into a more promising 2021, a recovery that can be measured in the number of international tourists arriving each month.
Pandemic decline of the industry
In December 2020, Europe welcomed just under 7m tourists. By January 2021, this number had fallen by -11.3 per cent as the continent saw just over 6.1m tourists arrive. This number fell again in February 2021, this time by -19 per cemt, when the number of tourist arrivals dropped below 5m.
The same pattern of decline was seen in the America’s, too, where February saw American tourism hit a low of 3.5m international visitors.
A similar pattern of decline between December 2020 and February 2021 was also experienced across Asia & the Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.
However, there are signs of a tourism recovery on the cards already in 2021 when looking at the last six months as a whole.
Tourism recovery
Between February and March 2021, the number of tourists in Europe climbed from below 5m to almost 6m, growth of 19.9 per cent.
Heading into April, this number jumped up by a further 25.9 per cent before rising once again, this time by 60.9 per cent, into May when over 12.1m international tourists entered the nations of Europe.
This recent growth means that European tourism has soared by 74.7 per cent between December 2020 and May 2021 – the biggest global bounce back of all areas.
Table shows the full number of International tourist arrivals across each area
| tion | International tourist arrivals – December 2020 | International tourist arrivals – January 2021 | International tourist arrivals – February 2021 | International tourist arrivals – March 2021 | International tourist arrivals – April 2021 | International tourist arrivals – May 2021 |
| Europe | 6,951,000 | 6,168,000 | 4,998,000 | 5,994,000 | 7,546,000 | 12,144,000 |
| Americas | 5,510,000 | 4,262,000 | 3,525,000 | 5,137,000 | 5,568,000 | 6,283,000 |
| Asia and the Pacific | 1,444,000 | 1,279,000 | 874,000 | 1,478,000 | 1,649,000 | 1,567,000 |
| Africa | 1,603,000 | 990,000 | 850,000 | 964,000 | 1,044,000 | 1,043,000 |
| Middle East | 1,023,000 | 1,083,000 | 945,000 | 1,130,000 | 1,018,000 | 1,043,000 |
The American tourism industry has also seen a 14 per cent revival since December, with Asia & the Pacific seeing a total of 8.5 per cent growth in tourism and the Middle East enjoying total growth of 2 per cent during the same time.
The only region to experience an overall drop in tourism is Africa. With tourism having fallen by a significant -38.2 per cent between December 2020 and January 2021, the continent is yet to recover and remains -34.9 per cent below the tourism levels seen in December.
Table shows the change in the number of International tourist arrivals across each area
| Location | Change – Dec 2020 to Jan 2021 | Change – Jan 2021 to Feb 2021 | Change – Feb 2021 to Mar 2021 | Change – Mar 2021 to Apr 2021 | Change – Apr 2021 to May 2021 | Average change last 6 months | Change – Dec 2020 to May 2021 |
| Europe | -11.3% | -19.0% | 19.9% | 25.9% | 60.9% | 15.3% | 74.7% |
| Americas | -22.6% | -17.3% | 45.7% | 8.4% | 12.8% | 5.4% | 14.0% |
| Asia and the Pacific | -11.4% | -31.7% | 69.1% | 11.6% | -5.0% | 6.5% | 8.5% |
| Middle East | 5.9% | -12.7% | 19.6% | -9.9% | 2.5% | 1.0% | 2.0% |
| Africa | -38.2% | -14.1% | 13.4% | 8.3% | -0.1% | -6.2% | -34.9% |
“The outlook for the global travel and tourism industry has looked very bleak for quite some time and since the start of the pandemic countries have closed their borders and airlines and travel agencies have been hit so hard that many have been unable to survive,” commented Timothy Davis, Co-Founder and CEO of Butter.
“You need only look at the level of international tourism during the start of this year to see the impact Covid has had in what was otherwise a thriving industry,” Butter told City PM
However, the last six months really tell a tale of two halves and international tourism numbers have rebounded at quite an astounding rate since March, despite restrictions remaining in place and uncertainty deterring many from travelling, he continued.
“There is still quite some way to go before normality returns and it’s unlikely to do so this year, but the early indicators will bring hope for many across the global tourism industry that 2022 will be a far better year,” Butter concluded.