World Travel & Tourism Council Forecasts Major Increase in International Travel

Following more than two years of travel bans and lockdowns due to the spread of COVID-19, the travel and tourism industry experts forecast that 2022 will go big. This major prediction came from the World Travel and Tourism (WTTC) and ForwardKeys, at the 21st Global Summit of WTTC (20th April to 22nd April), in Manila, as they now expect a significant boost in the number of international travel bookings.

WTTC is a non-profit organization that unites and represents all major players in the travel and hospitality sector, while Forwardkeys is one of WTTC’s significant knowledge partners.

Overall, things are more or less getting back to normal, and travel too is bouncing back. COVID-19 is now seen more as an endemic rather than a pandemic in most parts of the world and has (therefore) become an adaptable part of one’s life. Moreover, with the majority of destinations now open for tourism, the demand for travel is growing faster than ever, so much so that it is anticipated to return to the level of pre-Covid phase in this year.

The countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, such as Aruba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Jamaica, are among the top 20 high performing places in this summer season, as per the data put out by ForwardKeys. Known for its untouched natural beauty and incredible cultural diversity, these destinations have reported such a tremendous boost in bookings that it has somewhat outpaced the bookings before the pandemic phase.

According to Oliver Ponti, the Vice President Insights at ForwardKeys, “It is very encouraging that Asia has finally begun re-opening, which is driving the return of both travel to Asia and within the region, both of which are clearly going to be instrumental in driving the global economic recovery.”

The data further reveals an incredible increase in the number of flights all over the world (particularly in Asia, Europe and the Americas) in the first and second quarters of this year. Contrary to 2021, the countries in Asia-Pacific region received an astounding influx of visitors during the first quarter of 2022. Apart from these, Africa and the Middle East are also on the path of recovery, where tourism in countries such as Egypt, Qatar and the UAE has now almost returned to the pre-pandemic levels.

“WTTC 2022 booking data from ForwardKeys is a firm signal of the strong recovery of the global Travel & Tourism sector,” said Julia Simpson, the President and CEO at WTTC, as she asserted about the industry’s resurgence and positive trend. “Travel to the Asia-Pacific region shows impressive signs of improvement as destinations gradually reopen their borders to visitors, in line with customer demand.”

In 2020 and 2021, travel and holidays were limited to staycations and domestic travels. But, with more positively predictable and promising days ahead, there is no doubt that this year will see people checking off their long-awaited travel bucketlist and must-visits by traveling to far-flung places.