37% backwardness of Iran’s tourism

In its statistical section, the World Tourism Organization updated the number of foreign tourists arriving in Iran in the first six months of 2024 and announced that this number is still 37% lower than before the Corona pandemic (2019).

According to the information available in the UNTOURISM statistics section (which usually receives these statistics from official tourism organizations and institutions of governments and countries), Iran hosted a total of 3 million 129 thousand 449 foreign travelers in the first 6 months of 2024. has shown that this figure was accompanied by fluctuations in the months of January to June (from January 1402 to June 1403).

According to these statistics, in January (696/494 people), February (313/506 people), March (772/396 people), April (469/497 people), May (282/443 people) and in June (917/790 people) have traveled to Iran, which shows a total of 3,129,449 foreign tourist arrivals to Iran in the first six months of 2024. Meanwhile, in 2023, the total number of international tourists arriving in Iran in the first seven months of 2023 (January to July) reached less than three million people (2,933,884 people).

The lowest amount of arrivals to Iran was recorded in March (March-April) and the highest entry of foreign tourists (more than 790 thousand people) was recorded in June (June-April). In these statistics, the citizenship and nationality of the passengers who entered Iran are not specified.

Also, the foreign tourism development department in the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Industries announced in 1402 that Iranians living in foreign countries, who traveled to the country for the purpose of tourism, are also counted in the counting of incoming tourists.

According to the announcement of the World Tourism Organization, the amount of tourists entering Iran in the first 6 months of 2024 is 37% less compared to the statistics before the Corona pandemic (2019), while according to the latest reports, the world tourism industry will The year 2024 will be completely revived and will finally come out from under the shadow of the negative consequences of the Corona epidemic. In the first nine months of 2024, about 1.1 billion tourists traveled internationally, and the world tourism industry reached 98% of its pre-pandemic level.

Four years after the coronavirus outbreak brought global tourism to a standstill, reports indicate a significant recovery in the industry, with most regions surpassing 2019 figures in terms of tourist arrivals between January and September 2024. The United Nations Tourism Organization report also shows that international tourism revenues have grown significantly and most destinations have recorded a double-digit increase compared to 2019.

Meanwhile, the Middle East (+29% compared to 2019) continued to witness unprecedented growth in this period, while Europe (+1% growth) and Africa (+6% growth) also exceeded the 2019 level. The Americas have also recovered with 97% of the number of incoming tourists before the pandemic (minus 3% compared to 2019).

Asia and the Pacific reached 85% of the 2019 level, compared to only 66% in 2023. The area has seen a gradual recovery since reopening to international travel in 2023.

Also, according to available data, in 35 countries, international tourism receipts exceeded pre-pandemic levels in the first 8-9 months of 2024, with many recording double-digit growth compared to 2019. Among the best performers in terms of income are Serbia (+99%), Pakistan (+64%), Romania (+61%), Japan (+59%), Portugal (+51%), Nicaragua and Tanzania (both + 50%) were located.