The Dominican Republic is the only country that will receive more visitors in 2022 than in 2019, according to travel analytics firm ForwardKeys.
The firm analyzed air ticketing data combining arrivals through Oct. 18 with year-end bookings and compared it to 2019 to see which countries were the most visited in 2022.
It found that the Dominican Republic topped the list and was the only country that had increased its number of tourists compared to 2019, with 5% more arrivals this year.
It was followed by Turkey, Costa Rica, and Mexico, all maintaining the same number of visitors this year compared to 2019.
In fifth and sixth place were Jamaica and Pakistan, both with 5% fewer tourist arrivals, Bangladesh in seventh with -8%, followed by Greece with -12%, Egypt with -15% and Portugal with -16%.
Also in the top 20 were the United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Qatar, Spain, Ireland, France, Brazil, Denmark, Switzerland, and Sweden.
ForwardKeys said the strong representation of Central American and Caribbean countries at the top of the list “reflects the relative strength of the U.S. source market.”
He also said that the pandemic approach taken primarily by “countries highly dependent on tourism” in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, which imposed less severe Covid restrictions than in other parts of the world, meant they maintained their visitor economies and have reached or exceeded pre-pandemic volumes.
The firm said recovery from the pandemic has been the strongest travel trend this year, helped by pent-up demand that led to increased desire to travel abroad, a resurgence of business travel and major global events such as the Dubai World’s Expo and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
However, the report went on to say that the Omicron variant, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the disruption of the airport have led to a stalled recovery.
Among the main destination cities, Antalya was the best performer and received 66% more visitors than in 2019.
It was followed by San Jose Cabo which rose 21%, Puerto Vallarta 13%, Punta Cana 12%, San Salvador 10% and Cancun 9%.
ForwardKeys said Antalya’s “extraordinary performance” was aided by the weakness of the Turkish lira and the Turkish government’s policy of remaining relatively open to tourism during the pandemic.
Olivier Ponti, Vice President of Knowledge at ForwardKeys, said: “Looking at the world regionally, one should admire Caribbean countries for their early efforts to sustain visitor arrivals in the face of the pandemic and their continued growth in an increasingly competitive market. Travel landscape.
“The Middle East also stands out because it has helped accelerate its recovery by hosting major global events such as the Dubai World Expo, the Formula One Grand Prix at various Gulf locations and, above all, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
“The Gulf has also seen a relatively strong return in business travel, a segment whose recent renaissance has come as a surprise to many.”
Source:
Travel Weekly