Travel Market

Overview of the Global Tourism Market

In 2025, the global aviation and tourism industries continued to grow steadily, and the international travel market formally entered a stage of post-pandemic normalization. According to IATA data, global air passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), increased by 5.3% in 2025 compared with 2024. Over the same period, airline capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs), rose by 5.2%, while the overall passenger load factor (PLF), the percentage of available seat kilometers used, reached 83.6%, setting a new annual record for air transport. In tourism, international tourist arrivals worldwide reached 1.53 billion in 2025, up 4% compared with both 2019, before the pandemic, and 2024. Looking ahead to 2026, as travel demand continues to grow, air passenger volume is estimated to exceed 5.2 billion passengers, while international tourist arrivals are projected to increase by 3% to 4% from 2025. The outlook for both aviation and tourism therefore remains promising.

According to the UN Tourism Confidence Index, only 39% of tourism professionals believed that the outlook for international tourism in 2026 would be better than in 2025. Although global inflation has eased, inflation in tourism services remains above average. In the future, the international tourism industry will continue to be affected by global economic conditions, high travel costs, geopolitical tensions, oil price volatility, and extreme weather. Price-sensitive travelers are placing greater emphasis on value for money, favoring trips that offer good value and are closer to home, and their confidence in the travel market remains relatively conservative. In terms of travel patterns, short urban trips recorded the fastest growth, followed by nature- or mountain-based travel and MICE tourism. As more travelers choose to explore lesser-known destinations, demand for nature- and mountain-based tourism has also increased, reflecting a trend in which sustainable travel choices are becoming an increasingly important consideration. At the same time, the strong recovery of the MICE industry will raise the visibility of destinations that host international events and attract high-spending travelers.