WTTC: Tourism was the fastest growing sector last year, slowdown in 2018

The tourism and travel sector worldwide created 7 million new jobs last year, and with a growth of 4.6 percent, it outperformed the growth of the global economy and was the fastest growing sector, while a slower growth is expected this year, as highlighted in the new global report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

The report on the economic impacts of tourism and travel worldwide, published by WTTC at the end of March, emphasizes that this sector outperformed the growth of the overall economy for the seventh consecutive year, which grew by 3 percent.

With a growth of 4.6 percent, it was ahead of the growth of other sectors, including manufacturing, which grew by 4.2 percent, retail and wholesale, with a growth of 3.4 percent, agriculture, forestry, and fishing with a growth of 2.6 percent, and financial services with a growth of 2.5 percent.

“Travel and tourism create jobs, stimulate economic growth, and help build better societies. Our research shows that this sector was responsible for creating one in five jobs worldwide last year, and that in recent years, thanks to the governments of many countries, steps have been taken to maximize the potential of this sector,” said Gloria Guevara Manzo, President and CEO of WTTC, regarding the report.

She also added that 2017 was the best year for global tourism in terms of tourist spending, which she attributed to increased consumer confidence both domestically and internationally, especially with growth from China and India, as well as recovery in markets in North Africa and Europe, which had previously been affected by terrorism, natural disasters, and political instability.

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According to WTTC’s report for 2017, tourism and travel contributed 10.4 percent or $8.3 trillion to global GDP, while the sector accounted for over 313 million jobs or one in ten worldwide, and exports amounted to $1.5 trillion or 6.5 percent of total global exports, nearly 30 percent of total global service exports. Investments reached $882 billion.

For Europe, the report states that with a growth in tourist traffic of nearly 5 percent, it performed better than expected, with a strong recovery in demand for long-haul destinations and within Europe itself due to the strength of the European economy. Supporting this is the fact that European airlines transported over one billion passengers for the first time last year, 8 percent more than in 2016.

Tourism also increased its share in the GDP of North Africa, primarily due to excellent results from Egypt with a growth of as much as 73 percent, and Tunisia with 7.6 percent, indicating further recovery, while Asian countries continued to lead global tourism growth, especially in North Asia with a growth of 7.4 percent and South Asia with 6.7 percent, with China being marked as the biggest winner.

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A rare region in the world with a decline in tourism in GDP of 1.4 percent is Latin America, which WTTC largely explains as a consequence of declining consumption in the largest country, Brazil, as well as political and economic problems in Venezuela.

Emphasizing that the long-term outlook for the next decade, until 2028, remains unchanged, with an average growth of 3.8 to 4 percent, WTTC notes that by that year, the number of jobs in tourism worldwide is expected to increase to over 400 million.

“As the tourism and travel sector becomes increasingly important as a generator of GDP and jobs, the key challenge is to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth, especially since we have already seen the beginnings of a ‘fight’ against tourism in some key global destinations in 2017,” warned WTTC, announcing that therefore the themes of tourist overcrowding and the future of tourism jobs will be key at the upcoming WTTC global summit in mid-April in Buenos Aires.