Visitors

  • In 2Q24, the number of international visitors were up 4.6% y/y to 1.5mn persons. Overall, tourist arrivals fully recovered in 1H24, reaching 99.8% of 1H19 levels. However the recovery rate decelerated in 2Q24, achieving 95.2% of 2019 level compared to 106.4% recovery in 1Q24. This slowdown was attributed to political instability at the end of May, which affected arrivals from almost all source markets in 2Q24, especially from Europe. 
  • Middle East & Central Asian countries continued to maintain the strongest recovery levels, with significant visitor growth from Israel and Kazakhstan. Arrivals from Asia, particularly India and China also grew rapidly, increasing by 78.6% and 126.8% y/y to 37.1k (2.4% of total) and 22.9k (1.5% of total) visitors in 2Q24, respectively. This growth was supported by visa liberalization and improved air connectivity with these countries.

Revenues

  • Tourism revenues reached a record high US$ 1.1bn in 2Q24, marking an 8.1% y/y growth from last year’s high base. Growth was positively influenced by Middle Eastern markets, particularly Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, as well as Asian markets, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. In contrast, certain traditional markets such as Russia, Ukraine, the EU, and Armenia contributed negatively in 2Q24. 
  • We project tourism revenues to reach US$ 4.3bn for 2024, up from US$ 4.1bn in 2023. The strong growth in tourist numbers from the Middle East and Asia, along with the ongoing plans to increase direct flight frequencies to these markets, suggest sustained growth in tourism revenues for the full 2024.