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2020 Will Be a Strong Year for International Tourism

International tourism keeps growing despite all problems and potential global crisis. This year is no exception – the number of outbound trips during the first eight months of this year increased. However, the growth rate is somewhat slower than a year ago – 3.9% vs. 4.9% in 2018. Asia remained the world’s region with the highest international travel growth, but not all continents posted similarly strong results. Tourism in Latin America saw a decline in the first eight months of 2019. That being said, experts do not think there will be any signs of slowing down. They forecast that outbound international travel will continue its growth in 2020.

In the period from January to August 2019, Asia reported the highest growth of tourism (+6%), following the trend of the previous year. Without a doubt, China is the main source market in the region that reported an enormous growth of 9% during the mentioned months. Tourists from North America also traveled more in the first eight months of 2019. Europeans have also traveled abroad more this year, but there is lower than the global average – 2.5%. Tourists from Latin America made fewer international trips in January-August 2019, so this region reported a decline of 3%.

Asia is not only the fastest-growing source market but also a popular travel destination. For example, it is home to the most visited city in the world – Bangkok hotels definitely do not have problems with occupation as the city greets millions every year. The increase in the number of tourists reached 6%. Europe is also a popular choice for tourists, so the region keeps growing and posted an increase of 3.5% during the first eight months of 2019. The result of America was lower, +2%.

2019 has an interesting trend – the number of holiday vacations is growing by 4% while the number of business trips is decreasing by approximately the same amount. Still, the overall trend is positive as MICE market added 2% during the abovementioned period.

Experts name one more important trend in 2020 – city breaks will only become more popular. Vacations of this type have become increasingly popular in recent years, and so now their share is almost 30% and only slightly below beach holidays. City breaks reported a growth of 8% during the eight months of this year. Finally, safety is one more trend that tourists around the world label as extremely important. Vacationers do not want to visit destinations with civil unrest, strikes, and so on. Tourists name Scandinavia, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Canada, and Australia as safe choices.

17.11.2019

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