A total of 179 deals were announced in the global travel and tourism sector during the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, which is a 40.7% decline compared to the announcement of 302 deals during the same period in 2022, according to GlobalData, a data and analytics company.
All the deal types under coverage, comprising mergers & acquisitions, private equity and venture financing deals, witnessed a considerable year-on-year (YoY) decline in deal volume in Q1 2023. The numbers of mergers & acquisitions (M&A), venture financing and private equity deals fell by 42.9%, 29.4%, and 50% during Q1 2023 compared to Q1 2022, respectively.
“Deal activity in the travel and tourism sector witnessed a significant drop across all the regions in the first quarter of 2023 as economic uncertainties and geo-political tensions caused a rise in fuel costs and prices for several utilities,” said Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst, GlobalData.
Deals volume fell sharply by 43.3% for the travel and tourism sector in the North American region, while Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and South and Central America experienced a decline in deals volume by 45.6%, 34.7%, 10% and 60% in Q1 2023 compared to Q1 2022, respectively.
“The decline could be attributed to deal activity suffering setbacks in most of the key markets across all regions,” added Bose.
Deal activity in major countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Japan, India, Spain and Australia decreased by 45%, 41.9%, 50%, 56.3%, 50% and 66.7%, respectively during Q1 2023 compared to Q1 2022. Meanwhile, China and France managed to showcase some improvement, but it was not enough to offset the impact of the decline experienced in other countries.
