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Six weeks post-launch, Threads is falling off: After debuting in early July with 10 mn people signing up for the app within hours — making it the most downloaded non-app game app on a launch day in the past decade — Threads is seeing a drop in the number of daily active users, Time reports, citing Sensor Tower and Similarweb data. The app peaked at50 mn daily active users in early July, but is now settling at c.10 mn daily active users — well below the c.108 mn daily active users X (formerly known as Twitter) has. Threads users also spend much less time on the platform, with a daily average of just 2.4 minutes, which is some 80% below its July peak, according to Time.
What went wrong? Threads’ initial allure was grounded in the ongoing turbulence at X thanks to Elon Musk’s brand of management, but analysts have been warning that there is more to sustaining its success than promoting it as “Twitter, but without Elon Musk.” The drop-off in user interest is largely due to the lack of cultural relevance that Twitter has cultivated over the past 17 years, Times suggests. Experts also cite critical design flaws — like the lack of a search function — as a major factor in Threads’ decline, which not only made it difficult to find the same accounts users followed on Twitter and made it nearly impossible to keep up with current events.
Within 10 years, the travel industry is set to be worth USD 15.5 tn, accounting for over 11.6% of the world’s gross domestic product, reports Bloomberg, citing data forecasts from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). That’s a 50% increase from 2019, when the industry was valued at USD 10 tn or 10.4% of global GDP.
US, China, Germany, the UK and Japan account for the largest share of tourism’s contribution to global GDP, the report says. This trendis predicted to continue from pre-2019 based on how much is spent in-country by international visitors and how much citizens of each country spend on their own travel abroad contributing to the ratings. Honorable mentions also go to France, Mexico, Italy, India and Spain, who are in the top ten slots.
Tourists want outdoorsy adventures: Spikes have been noted in increasing nature-based travel and for lesser-known destinations with a drive in scientist-accompanied expeditions to Antarctica and the Galapagos, indicates data from the WTTC and Virtuoso, a network of over 20k luxury travel advisers. In Egypt, interest is abounding for eco and adventure tourism, but more support in the form regulations and streamlining registration could help the industries contribute to the Tourism Ministry’s goal of pulling in 15 mn tourists this year. We’re off to a good start already with a record 7 mn tourists visiting the country in the first six months of the year.
