The arrivals of international tourists increased by 5% in the first six months of 2025 compared to the same period of 2024, exceeding by 4% the levels recorded before the pandemic.
According to UN Tourism, between January and June 2025, almost 690 million tourists made international trips, approximately 33 million more than in the same period of 2024, although the results varied between the different regions and subregions.
Africa recorded the best results, in South Africa the Table Mountain – one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in the world – is one of the most visited places by tourists.
UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said that “in view of global challenges, international tourism continues to show strong momentum and resilience. In the first half of 2025, tourist arrivals and tourism revenues increased in most destinations in the world, which contributes to local economies, jobs and livelihoods. However, this also reminds us of our enormous responsibility to ensure that this growth is sustainable and inclusive, and to collaborate with all local stakeholders in this regard.”
Africa with excellent results and the Asia and Pacific region continued to recover
The latest edition of the World Tourism Barometer evaluates the results of the sector by region and subregion in the first six months of 2025. The main conclusions are as follows:
– Africa recorded a growth of 12% in the period January-June 2025 compared to the same period last year. Both North Africa (+14%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (+11%) showed a two-digit growth during this period.
– Europe welcomed almost 340 million international tourists in the first half of 2025, approximately 4% more than in 2024 and 7% more than in 2019. In Northern, Western and Southern Mediterranean Europe, a growth of 3% was observed in this period despite unequal monthly results. According to the available data, Central and Eastern Europe continued to show a strong recovery (+9%), but remained 11% below the levels recorded in 2019.
– The region of the Americas showed a growth of 3% in the period January-June 2025, although the results varied from one subregion to another. Although South America continued to show solid growth (+14%), arrivals in Central America increased by 2% and in North America remained at the same level (+0%), mainly due to small falls in the United States and Canada. The Caribbean (+0%) also yielded worse results, partly due to the decrease in demand from its main source market: the United States.
– Arrivals in the Middle East decreased by 4% this semester, although after experiencing a noticeable recovery after the pandemic, by increasing arrivals by 29% compared to the same period of 2019, which represents the best regional results in relation to 2019.
– Arrivals in Asia and the Pacific increased by 11% this period, which represents 92% of the figures recorded before the pandemic (-8% compared to 2019). Northeast Asia (+20%) yielded the best results compared to 2024, although it remained 8% below the levels recorded in 2019.
– Some of the highest growth rates among important destinations in the first half of 2025 were recorded by Japan and Vietnam (+21%), the Republic of Korea (+15%), Morocco (+19%), Mexico and the Netherlands (+7%). Malaysia and Indonesia showed a growth of 9%, and Hong Kong (China) of 7%, although arrivals in these destinations remained slightly below the levels recorded in 2019.
– The main destinations in the world, France (+5% until May) and Spain (+5%), also showed solid growth in terms of arrivals in this period.
– According to IATA, both international air traffic (passenger-kilometer income (RPK)) and international air capacity (available seats-kilometer (ASK)) increased by 7% in the period January-June 2025 compared to 2024. The global occupancy rate in hotel establishments reached 69% in June 2025, slightly lower than the 70% obtained in June 2024. In July 2025, the occupancy rate reached 71% (the same as in July 2024) according to STR data.
In the first half of 2025, many destinations showed strong growth in terms of tourism revenues
– Monthly data on international tourism revenues show solid revenues until June 2025 in important destinations, such as Japan (+18%), the United Kingdom (+13% until March), France (+9%), Spain (+8%) and Türkiye (+8%).
– There is also a strong demand for travel in the issuing expenditure of some large markets, such as China (+16% until March), Spain (+16%), the United Kingdom (+15% until March), Singapore (+10%) and the Republic of Korea (+8%).
– In 2024, international tourism revenues increased by 11% to reach the unprecedented figure of 1.734 billion US dollars, approximately 14% above the levels recorded before the pandemic (real terms), which reflects the considerable spending of visitors around the world last year.
Economic and geopolitical factors continue to pose important challenges
As in previous surveys, the September survey of the Tourism Expert Group and the UN Tourism Confidence Index indicate that high transportation and accommodation costs, as well as other economic factors, are the two main challenges affecting international tourism in 2025.
According to the Group, tourists will continue to look for the best value for money, but they will also travel to closer destinations, make shorter trips or spend less, in response to rising prices.
Uncertainty due to economic and geopolitical tensions also diminishes confidence in travel. In the survey conducted in September 2025, lower consumer confidence was also considered the third main factor affecting tourism, while geopolitical crises (apart from current conflicts) were considered the fourth factor. The increase in trade tariffs (fifth factor) and travel requirements (sixth factor) were also important concerns expressed by the Panel of Experts.
In addition, there is a slight increase in confidence levels for the period September-December 2025. And despite global uncertainty, travel demand is expected to remain resilient for the rest of the year.