GLOBAL ECONOMIC IMPACT & TRENDS 2019
FOREWORD
A
s one of the world’s largest economic sectors, Travel & Tourism creates jobs, drives exports,
and generates prosperity across the world. The sector, comprised of a wide range of
industries, aims to serve and support domestic, international, business and leisure visitors.
Companies, large and small, in industries ranging from accommodation and transportation
to food & beverage, retail and culture and sports & recreation, all strive to create products and
services that bring people together, support communities and celebrate the wonders that our world
can oer.
In its annual analysis quantifying the global economic and employment impact of Travel & Tourism in 185
countries and 25 regions, the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) research reveals that the sector
accounted for 10.4% of global GDP and 319 million jobs, or 10% of total employment in 2018. The division
of overall spend is firmly weighted towards the leisure market, which represented 78.5% of the total
compared with 21.5% for business spend, and the sector accounted for 6.5% of total global exports and
27.2% of total global service exports. Domestic tourism, which represented 71.2% of all tourism spending
in 2018 and had the strongest growth in developing nations, continues to support opportunities by
spreading development and regional economic benefits and building national pride.
The continued rise in the number of middle class households and the solid growth in global consumer
spending once again enabled the Travel & Tourism sector’s growth to reach 3.9%, outpacing the global
economy for the eighth consecutive year. The USA, China, Japan, Germany and the UK were the top five
markets in 2018, collectively representing 47% of the global Travel & Tourism GDP.
Across the regions in 2018, Asia-Pacific remained a strong performer, growing by 6.4%, but North Africa’s
performance – with 8.6% year on year growth – is particularly notable. This growth not only showcases
the sector’s resilience and capacity to bounce back from security shocks, but also its ability to spread its
benefits widely across the world. In eect, Ethiopia, Ecuador, St Kitts and Nevis, Egypt and Turkey led the
world for Travel & Tourism GDP growth in 2018.
This growth, in turn, enables job creation. Travel & Tourism, which already supports one in every ten jobs
on the planet, and has accounted for one in five of all jobs created across the world over the past five
years, is a dynamic engine of employment opportunities. Jobs in Travel & Tourism particulary support
women, youth and other, often marginalised groups of society.
Factors influencing the flow of travellers around the world, such as a destination’s attractiveness and
its currency strength, will continue to aect traveller behaviour in the coming year. Undoubtedly, new
developments will emerge alongside these existing factors. As some nations look increasingly inward,
Travel & Tourism becomes even more critical as an engine of economic development and as a vehicle for
sharing cultures and building mutual understanding.
The most eective policy and investment decisions are made with empirical evidence. For nearly
30 years, WTTC has been proud to provide the only global comparative evidence base for Travel &
Tourism’s economic performance. This data empowers both public and private bodies to make sound
economic decisions that can support sustainable and inclusive growth and provides the comparative
evidence to analyse the impacts. As a result, governments across the world are better able to strategically
plan and develop more eective policies, enhance their decision-making relating to investment, and
further cooperate with the private sector to ensure the Travel & Tourism sector provides the greatest
opportunities for societies to prosper.
Gloria Guevara Manzo
President & CEO
