Southern Europe Leads the Way in Tourism Recovery

According to the OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2024 report, the recovery of international tourism has been slightly uneven, with some regions opening up quicker than others and conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East limiting travel to affected and neighboring countries. Against this backdrop, European destinations have been profiting from strong intra-European travel demand as well as from a large influx of American travelers empowered by the strong dollar. The opposite is true for inbound travel to the United States, which is still down 16 percent from pre-pandemic levels, as the strong dollar makes traveling to the U.S. a lot more expensive for European or other international tourists.