Europe’s tourism set to recover ‘in second half of year’

A REPORT by the UN has found that tourism in Europe could recover in the second half of this year.

According to Reuters, the research carried out by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN’s World Tourism Organizaion (UNWTO) found that, despite some recovery this year in Europe, the tourism sector will not fully rebound until 2023.

According to the report, vaccinations and vaccine passports will this year see an increase in tourism after international arrivals across the world fell by 73 per cent last year.

Ralf Peters of UNCTAD’s trade analysis branch said: “The outlook for this year doesn’t look much better.”

He added, however: “There is an expectation of a certain recovery in the second half of the year, at least for North America and Europe to a certain extent.”

Zoritsa Urosevic, Geneva representative of the Madrid-based UNWTO, said: “What we are looking at in the long run is … meeting the 2019 numbers after 2023.”

Sandra Carvao, chief of market intelligence at UNWTO, added that it would be a “very diverse recovery,” varying by country.

The report found that Europe’s vaccination rates were one of the reasons for expected tourism recovery.

Spain’s vaccination rollout has so far seen more than half the population receive at least one dose of a jab, while several age groups, including the over 80s, have been completely immunised.

The Spanish government had been pushing for the large numbers of the population be vaccinated ahead of the summer in a bid to attract tourism.

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