Europe is well above 2019 levels

According to data from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Report (2023), global tourism has returned to pre-pandemic levels. Visual capitalist It offers us a comparison of graphs of tourist flows in different parts of the world, and from this data, we can immediately see how Europe is the winner in these flows, both southern (Spain, Greece, Italy) and as a third country. all. On the contrary, the loser at present is the United States, which is struggling, perhaps also due to the rise in the value of the dollar, to return to the previous level.

We envision the monthly arrival of foreign visitors in various regions, compared to 2019 levels

Europe is leading the way as a tourism recovery destination

After being the first sector to suffer almost immediately due to coronavirus lockdowns and border closures, global tourism has seen a steady recovery over the past year and a half.

In fact, Europe was the first region to return to pre-pandemic levels in April and May 2022, with the United States nearly approaching that milestone in July of that year.

In the tables below we show the relative range of monthly foreign arrivals in different regions, according to December 2019 levels. Figures below 100 indicate that the number of foreign arrivals was lower than in December 2019 and vice versa.

The problem is that this rapid recovery in southern Europe now threatens to push prices for tourist facilities skyrocketing, to levels much higher than before 2019. It will be necessary to ease regulations, for example, on short-term rentals, to contain prices. And be able to fully enjoy these flows.