ITB Berlin News - DAY 3 Edition

I ITB BERLIN CONVENTION I
Middle East world's
best performing
tourism region in 2022
The Middle-East enjoyed the strongest relative increase with arrivals climbing
to 83% of pre-pandemic numbers, according to the UNWTO. Africa also
bounced back in 2022 with arrivals reaching 65% of 2019 levels.
The Middle East's strong rebound was
driven by a number of key events. After
being postponed, Expo2020 finally took
place in Dubai from October 1st, 2021 to
March 31, 2022. It received 14.36 million
international overnight visitors in 2022,
growing 97% year-on-year from the 7.28
million tourist arrivals in 2021. The second
major event of the year in the Middle-East
was the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Qatar
achieved a 19% increase in visitors in 2022
compared to 2019, representing a total of
2.5 million international travellers. Qatar was
then one of the few countries to surpass
2019 arrivals' figures.
Another significant event generating a large
number of visitors was the highly attended
Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, which was
taking place after being suspended for 2
years. One million pilgrims were permitted
to attend last year, including 850,000 from
abroad. These events also helped boost
air transport. Middle Eastern airlines saw a
157.4% traffic rise in 2022 compared to 2021
with capacity increasing by 73.8% and the
general load factor reaching again 75.8%.
According to UNWTO data, Middle East
countries welcome 60.3 million international
travellers, up from 24.7 million in 2021 and a
low of 19.8 million in 2020.
Africa recovered at a slower pace having
suffered form a lack of air connectivity last
year, although it still recorded remarkable
growth. According to the international
air transport association IATA, African
airlines’ annual traffic rose 89.2% in 2022,
this compared to a 152.7% increase in total
international air traffic.
According to preliminary UNWTO data,
Africa reached a total of 45 million
international arrivals last year, representing
65% of 2019 numbers. North Africa
performed best with 19.1 million international
arrivals. This already represents 75% of all
2019 arrivals
ITB BERLIN HAD A
SPECTACULAR EGYPT STAND
MODELLED AFTER CAIRO'S
BRAND NEW NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF EGYPTIAN
CIVILIZATION.
ITB BERLIN NEWS • THURSDAY 9 TH MARCH 2023 19