The World Travel and Tourism Council's (WTTC) 2024 Economic Impact Research (EIR) charts the long-term growth of leisure travel, cementing the industry's position as a major global economic driver.
“It's safe to say that travel is not only back, it's booming, and that's what we're seeing on a global level,” said Julia Simpson, president and CEO of WTTC. ” he said. “It is worth noting that we expect travel and tourism to reach record highs in 2024,” Robinson said.
In a study produced in collaboration with Oxford Economics, WTTC reports that travel and tourism will produce a record year in 2024, with the sector's contribution to the global economy projected to reach $11.1 trillion. This is $770 billion more than the previous record set in 2019.
“Basically, that means about $1 out of every 10 dollars produced on the planet comes from travel and tourism,” Robinson said.
The report also found that travel and tourism generates 348 million jobs globally, an increase of more than 13.6 million jobs compared to 2019, Simpson said. .
“Today's world population is approximately 333 million people,” she said. “So we actually employ more people in our division around the world, and those people actually reside in the United States.”
Record travel activity has also resumed as airline operations return to pre-pandemic levels. “The numbers we use are from IATA and last time I looked it was around 90 percent,” Simpson said. “But you may find that there are parts of the world where it's not coming back.”
Overall, WTTC's long-term forecast bodes well for global travel activity.
“We look at the Oxford Economics 10-year forecast, which predicts the travel sector will be worth $16 trillion globally in 10 years,” Simpson added. “[Travel] It will account for 11.4 percent of the global economy and provide employment to 450 million people. ”
“The reason I wanted to say this is because it shows that our sector will grow faster than global GDP. So we are a growth sector.”
The unprecedented growth in global tourism is reflected in the performance of the United States, which Simpson calls “the world's largest travel and tourism economy.”
In 2023, the US grew by 7% [rate] According to WTTC data, the number of visitors reaches $2.36 trillion. “That's 8.6% of the U.S. economy,” Simpson said.
“[Travel] It will account for 11.4 percent of the global economy and provide employment to 450 million people. ” Julia Simpson, WTTC. (Photo courtesy of Brian Major)
“The U.S. added 656,000 jobs, for a total of 18 million jobs. This is a record in travel and tourism history and actually exceeded 2019.”
Simpson also said that U.S. travel and tourism “will grow to be worth $2.5 trillion this year, up 11% from 2019, and employ 19 million people.” [people]”
International visitor spending in the United States was one of the few areas where the WTTC report reflected the economic downturn. Spending in this sector in 2023 lagged 25% from 2019 levels.
Another area where U.S. travel continues to struggle is international travelers, who Simpson said have not fully returned to pre-pandemic levels. “We do not expect a recovery to 2019 levels this year. We are hopeful [the level will resume] Next year,” Robinson said.
He said 75% of the world's countries have recovered their 2019 tourist levels. In fact, while some countries saw a rebound in international visitor numbers two years ago, the U.S. is “clearly behind the curve,” Simpson said.
“I think one of the issues is that the dollar is so strong that Japanese and Chinese travelers are feeling that dollar strength,” she said, adding that “airfares are a little bit higher. '', citing the fact that “demand exceeds supply'' of airline seats.Reasons why travel to the US is slow to resume
Mr Simpson also noted the low number of Chinese tourists arriving in the country. “Chinese travelers account for 15% of global travel and tourism spending, so they are extremely important.”
She further added, “You have to remember that part of it is a visa issue, but some of it is also a visa issue. [that] China was the last to open [post-outbreak]; opened early last year, but not everything will move right away.They are [also] There have been some issues with reissuing passports, but we certainly need to welcome Chinese travelers back. ”
Simpson said WTTC members represent “private sector businesses in travel and tourism,” including airlines, airports, hotels, OTAs, high-tech companies, cruises, and even some financial institutions. It said it included CEOs and major investors from all parts of the sector. A company that invests heavily in travel and tourism. ”
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