MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Global tourism fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2024 with 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals recorded worldwide due to “robust” demand from key markets, United Nations (UN) Tourism said Monday.

“A majority of destinations welcomed more international tourists in 2024 than they did before the pandemic, while visitor spending also continued to grow strongly,” the Madrid-based agency said in a statement.

The number of international tourist arrivals last year was 11 per cent higher than the 1.3 billion recorded in 2023, reaching the level seen in 2019, the year before the pandemic paralysed travel.

A “robust performance from large source markets and the ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia” drove the results, UN Tourism added.

Receipts from global tourism reached US$1.6 trillion in 2024, about 3.0 per cent more than the previous year and 4.0 per cent more than in 2019 when inflation and currency fluctuations are taken into account.

“In 2024, global tourism completed its recovery from the pandemic and, in many places, tourist arrival and especially earnings are already higher than in 2019,” UN Tourism Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili said.

“Growth is expected to continue throughout 2025, driven by strong demand contributing to the socio-economic development of both mature and emerging destinations,” he added.

“This recalls our immense responsibility as a sector to accelerate transformation, placing people and planet at the centre of the development of tourism.”

The surge in visitor numbers has sparked a backlash in many tourism hotspots, prompting the authorities to take steps to ease the pressure on bursting beaches and gridlocked streets.

Venice, one of the world’s top tourist destinations, is trying to limit the influx of tourists into its historic centre by charging day trippers for entry.

Japan has introduced a daily cap on hiker numbers at Mount Fuji while Amsterdam and other port cities have reduced the number of cruise ships allowed to dock.