According to the May 2025 World Tourism Barometer from UN Tourism, over 300 million tourists travelled internationally in the first three months of 2025, about 14 million more than in the same months of 2024.
That represents a 5% rise on last year and is 3% more than in pre-pandemic year 2019. The robust performance came despite the sector facing a range of geopolitical and trade tensions, as well as high inflation in travel and tourism services.
UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “In every global region, tourism stands out as a major services sector, supporting millions of jobs and businesses of all sizes.
The continued good performance in international arrivals combined with stronger visitor spending in many destinations highlights the resilience of the sector in the face of numerous challenges and is good news for economies and workers everywhere.”
Africa recorded 9% growth in arrivals in Q1 2025, compared to 2024, exceeding pre-pandemic traveller numbers by 16%.
According to IATA, international air travel demand grew 8% in January-March 2025 versus Q1 2024, while international air capacity was up 7%. Global occupancy rates in accommodation establishments reached 64% in March, about the same level as in March 2024 (65%).
Revised data shows that total export revenues from international tourism (receipts and passenger transport) grew by 11% (real terms) to reach a record USD 2.0 trillion in 2024, about 15% above pre-pandemic levels. This represents about 6% of the world’s total exports of goods and services and 23% of global trade in services.
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