WORLD - 1.52 Billion International Tourists

The World Tourism Barometer is a publication of the World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) that monitors short-term tourism trends on a regular basis to provide global tourism stakeholders with up-to-date analysis on international tourism.

• International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) grew 4% in 2025, with most destinations worldwide posting solid results.

• An estimated 1.52 billion international tourists were recorded around the world in 2025, almost 60 million more than in 2024.

• 2025 marks a new record year for international tourist arrivals in the post-pandemic era.

• Results are in line with our 3% to 5% forecast published in January 2025, and come a year after the full recovery of international arrivals in 2024.

• This reflects a return to pre-pandemic long-term growth trends, where arrivals grew an average 5% per year between 2009 and 2019.

• Travel demand remained solid in 2025 despite inflation in tourism services and geopolitical challenges, though it softened somewhat towards the end of the year.

• Europe, the world’s largest destination region, recorded 793 million international tourists in 2025, a 4% increase from 2024 and 6% more than in 2019. Western Europe (+5%) and Southern Mediterranean Europe (+3%) saw robust performance in 2025. Central and Eastern Europe rebounded strongly (+6%) though arrivals remained 9% below 2019 levels.

• The Middle East recorded 3% growth in 2025, equivalent to 39% above pre-pandemic levels, the strongest results relative to 2019. The region virtually reached the mark of 100 million international visitors.

• While positive prospects for the global economy and lower oil prices could favor tourism performance in 2026, uncertainty derived from geopolitical risks and ongoing conflicts, trade tensions and climate events could weigh on travel confidence.

-www.e-unwto.org, January 2026

Commentary: Never before in human history could ordinary workers afford to literally travel around the globe. Online research states: “In the early 1800s, traveling from Europe to America by sail typically took 6 to 10 weeks (40-90 days). By the late 19th century, steamships dramatically reduced this trip to just 7-10 days.” Today, flight times between Europe and the USA are amazingly short: New York to London is typically 7 to 8 hours.

Communication is another story. According to a Google search, the first transatlantic telephone connection took place on 7 January 1927. That was not available to the general public.

Before that time, a letter was the only realistic method of long-distance communication, and it literally was at the speed of a “slow boat to China.”

Today, one can instantly communicate with any person virtually anywhere on planet earth. With such technological achievements, we begin to understand the implementation of Revelation 13:8: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

(See Progressive Globalism, Item #1092, $5.50.)