According to the latest World Tourism Barometer, more than 1.1 billion tourists travelled internationally in the first nine months of the year, around 32 million more than in 2024. The third quarter alone grew 4% year-on-year, supported by a strong Northern Hemisphere summer season, even as high inflation in tourism services and geopolitical and trade tensions weighed on traveller confidence.
UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “International tourism has continued to experience sustained growth so far in 2025 in terms of international arrivals and most importantly in receipts, despite high inflation in tourism services and geopolitical tensions. Africa and Europe in particular stand out for their results.”
Africa and Europe lead regional performance
The World Tourism Barometer highlights Africa as the strongest-performing region so far in 2025. Arrivals increased by 10% through September based on available data, with both North Africa (+11%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (+10%) recording double-digit growth.
Europe, the world’s largest destination region, welcomed 625 million international tourists between January and September 2025, up 4% on the same period in 2024. All European subregions performed well in the third quarter, confirming a robust summer season:
- Western Europe: +5%
- Southern Mediterranean Europe: +3%
- Northern Europe: −1% (more modest performance)
- Central and Eastern Europe: +8%, though still 11% below 2019 levels
In the Americas, arrivals grew 2% overall. The region posted 3% growth in Q1 and Q2, followed by a slight decline of 1% in Q3. Performance varied by subregion:
- South America: +9%, despite a flat third quarter
- Central America: +3%
- Caribbean: +1%
- North America: −1%, partly due to small declines in the United States and Canada
The Middle East recorded 2% growth in January–September compared with 2024 but remains 33% above 2019, the strongest relative performance of any region against pre-pandemic benchmarks.
In Asia and the Pacific, arrivals increased 8% in the first nine months of 2025, reaching 90% of 2019 levels (still −10% versus January–September 2019) as the region continues to recover. North-East Asia was a standout, with +17% growth over 2024, although still 12% below 2019.
Several individual destinations posted particularly strong growth compared with 2024, all already exceeding pre-pandemic arrivals:
- Brazil: +45%
- Vietnam, Egypt: both +21%
- Ethiopia, Japan: both +18%
- South Africa: +17%
- Sri Lanka, Mongolia: both +16%
- Morocco: +14%
Air capacity, occupancy and spending support the recovery
The rebound in travel demand is mirrored in aviation and accommodation data. According to IATA, international air traffic (RPKs) grew 7% in January–September 2025 versus the same period in 2024, while international air capacity (ASKs) increased 6%.
Global hotel performance has stabilised at high levels, with average occupancy reaching 68% in September 2025, matching September 2024, based on STR data.
Monthly data on international tourism receipts point to strong visitor spending in many destinations. Among the best performers in revenue growth during the first nine months of 2025 were:
- Japan: +21%
- Nicaragua: +19%
- Egypt: +18%
- Mongolia, Morocco: both +15%
- Latvia: +13%
- Brazil: +12%
- France: +9%
Outbound spending figures also underline robust demand from several major source markets up to August 2025:
- United States: +7%
- Spain: +15%
- France: +5%
- Germany, Italy: both +4%
- Republic of Korea: +7%
Outlook: growth in line with UN Tourism forecast, risks remain
In January, UN Tourism projected international tourist arrivals to grow 3% to 5% in 2025. The current 5% increase through September places the sector at the upper end of this range, confirming a broadly aligned trajectory with earlier expectations.
However, the organisation cautions that high travel prices, persistent inflation in tourism services and a challenging geopolitical environment remain key downside risks for the final quarter of the year and into 2026.
For travel trade professionals, the latest Barometer confirms that:
- Global volumes are now above pre-pandemic levels,
- Africa and parts of Europe and Asia are leading growth,
- Spending remains strong across many destinations and source markets,
- Capacity and occupancy have largely normalised.
This combination offers a positive foundation for forward bookings, product planning and capacity decisions, while underlining the need for continued vigilance around pricing, connectivity and geopolitical developments that could influence demand going forward.
