Investment in the global tourism industry has recovered after all but vanishing over the last two years as international tourist arrivals edged closer to their pre-Covid levels.

The Tourism Investment Report 2023, an annual special report jointly produced by fDi Intelligence and the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), shows that foreign investors announced 352 projects in 2022, an increase of 23% on the previous year. 

In the first quarter of 2023, international tourist arrivals had reached 80% of their pre-pandemic levels. This follows a two-third jump in 2022, where international tourist arrivals reached 963 million.

Higher job creation has followed these rising traveller numbers and investment pledges, reaching an estimated 36,400 in 2022 – up by 23% on the all-time low recorded in 2021. 

The report, which is based on fDi Markets proprietary data and UNWTO figures on international tourism arrivals, indicates that a total of $175.5bn of capital investment – creating an estimated 388,000 jobs – has been announced in the five years since 2018. 

“To ensure the growth and competitiveness of the sector, significant investments must be made in education and talent by upskilling the professional workforce and implementing vocational and technical programmes,” argues Zurab Pololikashvili, the UNWTO’s secretary general. He adds that these investments will pave the way for equipping young people with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive and boost the resilience of the sector.

The leading destination region for tourism FDI projects in 2022 was Western Europe with 143 announced investments at a combined estimated value of $2.2bn. In Asia-Pacific, the number of announced FDI projects edged up marginally by 2.4% to reach 42 last year.

As the tourism and travel industry undergoes continual recovery and restructuring in the wake of the pandemic and tougher market conditions, there is a growing imperative to invest in sustainability and technological innovation.

“As the sector steers its course towards recovery and growth, UNWTO now, more than ever, prioritises innovation, education and strategic investments as the pillars for recalibrating and adapting to these ever-evolving market dynamics,” says Natalia Bayona, the executive director of the UNWTO.

The North America and Asia-Pacific regions each contribute three companies to the top 10 investors list for tourism foreign direct investment (FDI) between 2018 and 2022. The rest of the top 10 comprises companies from Europe, with Spain-based Melia, UK-based Intercontinental Hotels Group, France-based Accor and UK-based Selina all featuring. 

Click here to download a PDF of the Tourism Investment Report 2023