Global travel and tourism industry to generate $10 trillion by end-2023

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has predicted that the global travel and tourism industry, which suffered a significant blow amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has made a remarkable recovery and is expected to generate $10 trillion by the end of 2023. President & CEO of the Council Julia Simpson shared this positive outlook at the 23rd Global Summit and claimed that the global tourism market is expected to surpass the $15 trillion mark within the next decade. Simpson highlighted the industry's progress in 2023 and stated that it had almost reached the $10 trillion milestone. Despite the ongoing efforts in China to fully reopen its travel and visa processes, the sector's performance has exceeded expectations. She emphasized that the industry is poised to exceed the $10 trillion benchmark and is projected to approach a value of nearly $15 trillion over the next decade. Highlighting the industry's resilience and swift recovery, Simpson noted that various regions, including Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, are experiencing growth rates higher than initially predicted. Additionally, the industry's commitment to environmental sustainability is becoming more energy efficient as it grows, with a reduced impact on greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2019 data. According to WTTC 2019 data, travel and tourism was responsible for 8.1% of the Greenhouse gas emission globally. As our sector continues to grow, we are becoming more efficient with our energy use. While travel and tourism are growing, the impact on the environment is not growing at the same rate, said Simpson, who was accompanied by WTTC Chair, Arnold Donald. Highlighting the importance of the sector in creating new employment opportunities, Donald said one out of five new jobs being created today across the world is from the travel and tourism sector. He underscored the sector's role in creating new job opportunities, with one in every five new jobs worldwide originating from the travel and tourism industry. The three-day Global Summit is attended by nearly 1,000 delegates from 45 countries.