Global travel and tourism sector inches closer to pre-pandemic peak, WTTC says

Industry is projected to reach $9.5 trillion this year, only 5 per cent below 2019 levels

Tourists in Zurich, Switzerland. The World Travel and Tourism Council forecasts that travel and tourism sector will grow its contribution to the global economy to $15.5 trillion by 2033. Getty

The travel and tourism sector is closing in on its 2019 peak, recovering by more than 95 per cent this year and surpassing the pre-pandemic levels next year, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has said.

The industry is projected to reach $9.5 trillion this year, only 5 per cent short of 2019 pre-pandemic levels when travel was at its peak, the global tourism body said in a research report, compiled with Oxford Economics, on Wednesday.

Nearly 34 countries have already exceeded pre-pandemic levels, it said.

The industry “continues to recover at pace, demonstrating the resilience of the sector and the enduring desire to travel”, said Julia Simpson, WTTC president and chief executive.

“By the end of the year, the sector’s contribution will be within touching distance of the 2019 peak. We expect 2024 to exceed 2019.”

Last year, the travel and tourism sector grew almost 22 per cent on an annual basis to reach $7.7 trillion. This recovery represented 7.6 per cent of the global economy last year, the highest sector contribution since 2019.

In 2021, the sector grew 24.7 per cent year-on-year.

Travel and tourism was among the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic in 2020. However, as some countries began to gradually reopen their borders and ease restrictions, global industry bodies called for a harmonised approach to restarting travel.

The collapse in international travel due to Covid-19 led the global tourism industry to lose $1.3 trillion in export revenue in 2020, almost 11 times more than the loss recorded during the 2008 global economic crisis, according to the UN World Tourism Organisation.

Overall, 2020 was the worst year on record, with international arrivals dropping 74 per cent year-on-year, the UN body found.

The WTTC research found that the Ukraine war and prolonged travel restrictions imposed by several countries such as China had a significant effect on recovery.

But the decision by the Chinese government to reopen its borders in January will boost the sector and see it recover to pre-pandemic levels next year, the WTTC said.

“The recovery will speed up this year as Chinese travellers re-enter the market and over the next 10 years, travel and tourism will continue to grow as a sector,” Ms Simpson said.

From a pre-pandemic high of more than 334 million, the travel and tourism sector was hit by the loss of more than 70 million jobs in 2020.

After a recovery of 11 million jobs in 2021, the sector created 21.6 million new jobs last year to reach more than 295 million globally — one in 11 jobs worldwide, WTTC said.

The tourism body forecasts that travel and tourism sector will grow its contribution to the global economy to $15.5 trillion by 2033, representing 11.6 per cent of the global GDP, and will employ 430 million people around the world.

Meanwhile, spending from overseas visitors grew by a record 82 per cent to reach $1.1 trillion last year, indicating that international travel is back on track.

Dubai topped the list of cities with the highest spending by international visitors last year, pulling ahead of Doha and London in the top three places, the WTTC said in another report.

The Gulf tourism and financial centre raked in $29.4 billion in international visitor spending in 2022, overtaking Doha, where tourists spent $16.8 billion, and London, with $16.1 billion, WTTC said in its report released in the first week of December.