According to data and analytics company GlobalData, a total of 573 deals—comprising of mergers & acquisitions, private equity and venture financing—were completed in the global travel and tourism sector during the first half of 2022 for a year-on-year increase of 3.1 percent over the 556 deals that were announced in the first half of 2021.
“Deal activity has been fueled by improving deal-making sentiments in the travel and tourism sector following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions," said Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData, in a statement. "In fact, an analysis of GlobalData’s company filings database reveals that the mentions of business travel among corporates increased by 4 percent year-over-year in H1 2022 (as of June 13). However, this trend is not uniform across all the regions and markets.”
Deal activity improved by 11.7 percent and 11.9 percent year-over-year in Europe and North America, respectively, in H1 2022. In contrast, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and South and Central America recorded a decline of 10.2 percent, 20.8 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively.
Similarly, while travel and tourism deal activity improved in several key global markets, some markets experienced decline. Deal volume increased in markets including the U.S., the U.K., India, Spain and Germany by 12.8 percent, 16.1 percent, 20.8 percent, 33.3 percent and 41.2 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, markets such as Japan, China, Australia, France and South Korea witnessed declines of 11.1 percent, 11.1 percent, 25 percent, 5 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively, in deal volume.
The number of venture financing and private equity deals announced decreased year over year by 12.3 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively, in H1 2022 while the number of mergers and acquisitions deals increased by 15 percent.