After having completely recovered from the Covid-19 crisis and "the worst year in tourism history" last year, international tourism is set for a new arrival record in 2025. According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, more than 1.1 billion tourists traveled internationally in the first nine months of 2025, putting the industry on track to exceed 2024 (and 2019) arrivals by 3 to 5 percent. Last year, international tourist arrivals had climbed back to 1,468 million, matching the pre-pandemic (i.e. 2019) record of international travelers almost exactly.
"International tourism has continued to experience sustained growth so far in 2025 in terms of international arrivals and most importantly in receipts, despite high inflation in tourism services and geopolitical tensions," UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said in a statement. Looking ahead, the industry faces some headwinds, however, as tepid economic growth, high travel prices and low consumer confidence point towards moderation in the pace of post-pandemic growth.
As our chart shows, the Covid-19 pandemic was the deepest crisis ever faced by the tourism industry. The virus stopped virtually all travel after its emergence in early 2020, resulting in a 1.1-billion drop in international arrivals that year. Following the global vaccine rollout through 2021, international tourism began to recover in 2022, even though the emergence of the Omicron variant delayed any meaningful progress until later in the year.
