Pakistan Becomes the Unexpected Tourism Champion of 2024

15% surge in foreign arrivals makes Pakistan the world’s best performing tourism destination

In the competitive landscape of global Halal tourism, Pakistan has emerged as a front-runner, achieving the title of the ‘best performing destination’ in terms of tourism for the first nine months of 2023. This prestigious recognition, as reported by the ‘World Tourism Barometer’ from the World Tourism Organisation of the United Nations, highlights Pakistan’s significant strides in the tourism sector.

Impressively, Pakistan witnessed a stellar 92% recovery rate to pre-pandemic tourism levels within 2023. This remarkable resurgence was further underscored by a substantial 115% increase in foreign tourist arrivals compared to the previous year, indicating a strong and resilient post-COVID recovery in the tourism industry.

The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), under the dynamic leadership of Managing Director Aftab Rana, played a pivotal role in this success. Mr. Rana credits the resurgence to a series of strategic and targeted efforts in tourism promotion. Notably, Pakistan marked its presence in six major international tourism events, effectively projecting its rich and diverse tourism potential on the global stage.

Further bolstering this growth, the strategic online marketing initiatives and the launch of the “Salam Pakistan” tourism campaign in August 2023 played crucial roles. These initiatives significantly enhanced Pakistan’s appeal, attracting a varied demographic of tourists from all corners of the globe.

The Minister of State for Tourism, Wasi Shah, expressed his congratulations to the PTDC team and industry partners for this remarkable achievement. He remains optimistic about Pakistan’s tourism sector delivering an even stronger performance in 2024, despite the existing global economic challenges.

Mr. Rana also praised the collaborative efforts of the PTDC, provincial tourist departments, and private sector operators. He emphasized the significance of international events in forging global partnerships and elevating Pakistan’s status in the world tourism market.

In the broader context, the WTO Tourism Barometer identified other top-performing destinations, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Turkey, and Romania. These countries represent diverse regions such as Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. However, Egypt and Serbia were noted as the lower-performing destinations in the list.

The barometer’s key findings revealed that international tourism had recovered 87% of its pre-pandemic levels in the first three quarters of 2023. During this period, an estimated 975 million tourists traveled internationally, marking a 38% increase from the same period in 2022, though still 13% lower than in 2019.

In terms of financial impact, international tourism receipts are projected to reach $1.4 trillion in 2023, approximately 93% of the $1.5 trillion earned in 2019. This reflects the strong recovery and rising demand in 2023.

By region, the Middle East led the recovery, with arrivals 20% above pre-pandemic levels. Europe, the largest destination region, reached 94% of its pre-pandemic levels, buoyed by strong intra-regional demand. Africa and the Americas recovered 92% and 88% of their pre-crisis visitors, respectively. In Asia and the Pacific, arrivals climbed to 62% of pre-pandemic levels.

Notably, sub-regions like North Africa, Central America, and Southern Mediterranean Europe have already exceeded their pre-pandemic levels in the first nine months of 2023.

Looking ahead, international arrivals are expected to reach 1.3 billion in 2023, up 33% from 2022 and nearly 90% of pre-pandemic levels. This trajectory aligns with the UNWTO’s earlier forecasts and suggests that international tourism is on track to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels by 2024, despite current economic challenges and geopolitical uncertainties, according to the WTO.