World tourism surged in July, thanks to vaccination rollouts and fewer travel restrictions, but traveller numbers still fell far short of pre-pandemic levels, the UN's tourism body has said, according to AFP.

Some 54 million tourists crossed international borders in July, the highest figure since April 2020, in the early months of the coronavirus crisis, the World Tourism Organisation said in a statement.

That represented an increase of 58 per cent compared with the level recorded in July 2020, but was still a drop of 67pc from the 164 million recorded in July 2019.

“This improvement was underpinned by the reopening of many destinations to international travel, mostly in Europe and the Americas... coupled with progress made in the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines” which contributed to “gradually restoring safe mobility in Europe and other parts of the world,” it said.