WTTC: Tourism Will Break Records Worldwide in 2024

The tourism and travel industry could break records in 2024, contributing more than 11 trillion US dollars to global GDP, thereby confirming the ‘authority of a global economic power’, forecasts the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

WTTC (World Travel and Tourism Council) represents the interests of the tourism and travel industry, including the private and public sectors. In a study conducted in collaboration with Oxford Economics, it predicts a record tourism year in 2024.

– Tourism and travel in 2024 will contribute an additional 770 billion dollars to global GDP compared to the previous record, generating one in every 10 dollars worldwide – says WTTC, noting that tourism is now ‘thriving’ globally after the pandemic and expecting that 142 out of 185 analyzed countries will surpass their previous national records.

The research also showed that this sector is ‘full of opportunities’ and encompasses nearly 348 million jobs worldwide, an increase of more than 13.6 million jobs compared to the pre-pandemic peak and (last) record year of 2019.

Spending on international travel is expected to be close to that of 2019, reaching nearly 1.9 trillion dollars, while domestic tourists are also expected to spend more than any previous year, approximately 5.4 trillion dollars.

Progress Already in 2023

WTTC also reflects on the year 2023 when the global tourism sector, despite economic uncertainties and geopolitical upheavals, showed progress.

– Making up 9.1 percent of global GDP with just over 9.9 trillion dollars in 2023, the financial impact of tourism and travel was the largest since the golden year of 2019, falling short by only four percent. The number of jobs also increased by an additional 27.4 million, totaling nearly 330 million – WTTC reports.

International tourist spending also grew compared to 2019, by 33.1 percent, to 1.63 trillion dollars, while domestic spending increased by 18 percent, to nearly five trillion dollars.

WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson stated that “the travel and tourism sector remains a global economic powerhouse” and that it is not just about breaking records, but more about recovery and “the sector returning in its best form after several tough years”.

– However, there is a risk. The governments of the USA and China should support their national travel and tourism sectors. The USA and China will continue to ‘suffer’ while international visitors return much faster in other countries – Simpson noted, considering that these two major world powers in tourism are recovering somewhat more slowly.