Led by the United States, which saw a decline of 44 pc in deal volumes in first nine months of the current year, analysis by GlobalData says that overall global market continued to weaken significantly.

In its latest analysis, GlobalData, a data analytics company, says that the investment climate in travel and tourism continued to weaken in the third quarter of the year as total deal volumes fell sharply by over 33 pc in the period January 1-September 30, 2023 as compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.

GlobalData says that a total of 558 deals were announced in the travel and tourism sector globally during the first three quarters of 2023, compared to the announcement of 833 deals during the same period in 2022.

Through the analysis of its Financial Deals Database, GlobalData has detailed all the deal types under coverage, and most of the key markets recorded a considerable year-on-year decline in the announcement of deals during Q1-Q3 2023 compared to Q1-Q3 2022, says the firm in a press statement.

For instance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals volume for the travel and tourism sector declined by 34.6 pc during Q1-Q3 2023 compared to Q1-Q3 2022, while the total number of private equity deals and venture financing deals were down by 29.2 pc and 28.4 pc, respectively.

It says that while North America witnessed a decline in deals volume by 43.9 pc during Q1-Q3 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year, while Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and South and Central America regions experienced a decline of 39.7 pc, 12.7 pc, 16.7 pc and 25 pc, respectively.

Similarly, key markets such as the US, the UK, South Korea, France, Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, and Canada recorded year-on-year decline in deals volume by 44.4 pc, 40 pc, 12.5 pc, 12.5 pc, 25.9 pc, 53.5 pc, 23.5 pc and 35.3 pc in the period, respectively.

Meanwhile, China emerged as a notable exception and experienced growth in deals volume by 21.9 pc during Q1-Q3 2023 compared to Q1-Q3 2022, whereas deals volume for India remained at the same level.

“Geo-political tensions, Russia-Ukraine war, inflation, recession fears, and interest rate hikes seem to have been taking a toll on deal-making sentiments in the travel and tourism sector. Resultantly, we have been seeing subdued activity being experienced across several key markets across regions,” says Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData.