A new report, “Report on World Tourism Economy Trends (2022)” , has been released by The World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and the Tourism Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (TRC-CASS). It predicts that at best, tourism numbers will be two-thirds of 2019 ones.
The report states that recovery will not be equal across the world while new key trends may decide where people go.
In 2021, world tourism showed a significant recovery driven by the loosening of fiscal and monetary policies in major economies, accelerated global vaccine production and rising vaccination rates.
The recovery of the world tourism economy is still relatively slow. The total number of global tourist trips and total world tourism revenue are still below 60% of the pre-pandemic levels.
The report recommends using multidimensional strategies, as well as improving the quality and efficiency of recovery and development of tourism through a more innovative approach, as the most urgent tasks for the industry in 2022.
The report presents a comprehensive summary and study on tourism recovery around the world, changes in regional tourism development patterns, tourism development performances of the top 20 countries in the world in terms of total tourism revenue, and innovative tourism development strategies of key cities
6.6 billion global tourist trips were made in 2021, and the total world tourism revenue reached US$3.3 trillion, showing a recovery of 54% and 56% of the 2019 levels respectively. The top 20 countries accounted for 80% of the total world tourism revenue in 2021, 12% higher than in 2020 and 1% higher than in 2019.
The report predicts that 8.45 billion global tourist trips will be made in 2022, and the total world tourism revenue will amount to US$4.0 trillion, 69% and 68% of the pre-pandemic levels in 2019 respectively.
Domestic tourism will see stronger recovery than international tourism, and tourism in developed economies will witness a better performance than that in emerging economies.
The report suggests that tourism economic growth will rely less on emerging economies and the Asia-Pacific region, and become more reliant on cities. It also predicts there will be greater concentration, with the tourism economy thriving in countries with high-level public medical care, and tourism markets booming in domestic and peripheral areas.
If the above logic is applied to medical tourism, major destinations actively promoting medical tourism may become more successful relatively, while minor destinations exit the market.
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