Tourism Sector Expected to Recover to Pre-Pandemic Levels in 2024

According to the new "World Economic Forum Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024", the tourism sector's contribution to the global GDP is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, driven by the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions and strong pent-up demand.

The index, which covers 119 economies, measures the factors and policies that enable sustainable and resilient development of the travel and tourism (T&T) sector, which in turn contributes to a country's overall development.

The top economies in the 2024 ranking are the United States, with a score of 5.24, followed by Spain, Japan, France, and Australia.

The Middle East has recorded the highest recovery rates in terms of international tourist arrivals (20% above 2019 levels), while Europe, Africa, and the Americas have all shown a strong rebound of around 90% in 2023.

Tunisia Ranks 83rd

Tunisia ranks 83rd, with a score of 3.60, behind Egypt (61st), Jordan (70th), Iran (73rd), Lebanon (79th), and Morocco (82nd), and ahead of Kuwait (96th) and Algeria (98th).

Since 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic, Tunisia has improved its ranking by 2 positions, representing a 1.0% increase.

One of the five pillars assessed by the index is the "Enabling Environment", which captures the general conditions necessary for operating and investing in a country, including business environment, security and safety, health and hygiene, human resources, labor market, and information and communication technology (ICT) readiness. In this pillar, Tunisia excels in security and safety, with a score of 5.17, but struggles with business environment (score of 3.43) and particularly human resources and labor market, with a score of 3.38.