Travel and tourism sector is approaching 2019 levels , recovering more than 95%, and will also continue to grow rapidly over the next ten years and increase its turnover. The positive future of the industry was predicted by the study of the World Travel and Tourism Council.
The data shows that this year the turnover of funds within the sector will reach $9.5 trillion, which is 5% below pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, 34 countries have already exceeded the indicators of 2019. In 2022, the tourism industry grew by 22% to reach $7.7 trillion, which is 7.6% of the global economy that year. These are the highest numbers recorded by the industry since 2019, although its global GDP is still 22.9% below its 2019 peak.
The sector lost about 70 of its more than 334 million workers before the pandemic, according to research. In 2020, the total number of people employed in tourism was only 264 million. Most jobs are lost in the first year of the pandemic. In 2021, 11 million jobs were restored and another 21.6 million in 2022 to reach 295 million workers worldwide. That's one in eleven employed people in the world.
In this regard, the President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council, Julia Simpson, noted the strong trends towards recovery, strengthening and growth of the industry. “By the end of the year, the sector’s contribution will be within arm’s reach of the 2019 high. We expect to exceed 2019 levels in 2024. Travel and tourism will grow over the next ten years,” she said.
In addition, the organization predicts that the sector's contribution to GDP will reach $15.5 trillion, or 11.6% of the global economy. And the number of people employed in the tourism and travel industry will reach 430 million people worldwide, or about 12% of the global workforce.
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