Special report: Global Travel Insight

China’s reopening sets global travel on path to full recovery in 2023

Asia Pacific outbound travel could fully recover soon

Line chart showing the recovery in outbound travel relative to 2019 from the month when the recovery rate was at least 30 percent. See outbound travel recovery image description for more details.
Line chart showing the recovery in outbound travel relative to 2019 from the month when the recovery rate was at least 30 percent. The chart includes regions like Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Asia Pacific excluding Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Initially, Europe saw the fastest recovery, reaching above 60 percent in just two months after achieving a recovery rate of 30 percent. It managed to achieve full recovery after eleven months. On the other hand, Asia Pacific as whole saw sluggish growth, recovering slightly above 40 percent in the same amount of time. The recovery for North America was gradual as well, recovering above 50 percent in four months before a dip in recovery. Asia Pacific excluding Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau saw a much faster recovery trajectory. After recovering by at least 30 percent in May 2022, it rose linearly to recover over 80 percent in just seven months, the fastest rate amongst the other regions.

Reshuffling of travel destinations is underway

Bar chart showing the international arrivals by origin region to top cities and the recovery rates from 2019. See international arrivals by origin region image description for more details.
Bar chart showing the international arrivals by origin region to top cities in the various regions in 2022. The recovery rates from 2019 are reflected in percentage terms. For North America, the top cities are New York (68 percent recovered), Orlando (64 percent recovered), Las Vegas (63 percent recovered), Toronto (58 percent recovered), and Vancouver (61 percent recovered). For Asia Pacific, the top cities are Bangkok (33 percent  recovered), Singapore (32 percent  recovered), Bali (48 percent recovered), Kuala Lumpur (39 percent  recovered), and Phuket (32 percent recovered). For Europe, the top cities are Paris (110 percent recovered), London (138 percent recovered), Istanbul (103 percent recovered), Barcelona (99 percent recovered), and Amsterdam (102 percent recovered). For Middle East and Africa, the top cities are Dubai (98 percent recovered), Mecca (166 percent recovered), Riyadh (167 percent recovered), Marrakech (103 percent recovered), and Medina (192 percent recovered). For Latin America and the Caribbean, the top cities are Cancun (128 percent recovered), Punta Cana (136 percent recovered), Playa del Carmen (115 percent recovered), Los Cabos (132 percent recovered), and Lima (90 percent recovered).

Asia Pacific travel spend is recovering at a faster pace

Bar chart showing the tourism spend by consumers using Visa-branded credentials in top cities in Asia Pacific and Europe. See consumer tourism spend by city image description for more details.
Bar chart showing the tourism spend by consumers using Visa-branded credentials in top cities in Asia Pacific and Europe. Generally, most of the top cities in Europe have seen a full recovery in tourism spend relative to 2019 in verticals such as restaurant, retail, accommodation, transportation and duty-free. One city that stood out was Istanbul, which saw its spend in (i) restaurant, and (ii) accommodation, transportation and duty-free recover by around 225 percent and 185 percent respectively. While London saw a full recovery in tourism spend on (i) restaurant (140 percent recovered), and (ii) accommodation, transportation and duty-free (114 percent recovered), its tourism spend on retail still lagged behind (80 percent recovered). However, the recovery in Asia Pacific remained weaker. None of the verticals in the top cities in Asia Pacific saw a full recovery in tourism spent but recovery ranged from around 50 percent to around 85 percent. For instance, tourism spend in the retail vertical in Bali recovered by 52 percent but spend in restaurants recovered faster (84 percent), bringing the overall tourism spend recovery to 63 percent. Meanwhile, tourism spend in Singapore for retail and restaurants recovered by 82 percent and 86 percent respectively.