North America Not Expected to Bounce Back until 2025

Destinations across North America are at different stages of tourism development. However, one common factor between the United States, Mexico and Canada is that the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 have been felt that hard. That is according to GlobalData, a data and analytics company.

A report, Tourism Destination Market Insight: North America (2021), found that total international arrivals to the region declined 67 per cent year-on-year in 2020 and inbound expenditure by 74 per cent.

North America’s forecast recovery follows the general global travel consensus that domestic tourism will recover first (2022), but international arrivals will not recover until 2024.

Forecasts for inbound tourism expenditure, however, suggest this will not surpass pre-pandemic levels until after 2025. 

One of the major benefits of inbound tourism is spending, which can boost economic revenues, stimulate employment and act as a catalyst for infrastructure development.

Each destination does hold a strong domestic tourism offering, but this cannot be relied upon alone to offset the collapse of international travel.

Due to proximity, connectivity and competing low-cost carrier operators, travel between the US, Canada and Mexico can be relatively low-cost, spurring travel across the destinations. Intra-regional travel will be vital in North America’s tourism recovery.

Each destination already relies heavily on neighbouring destinations as important sources for economic income.