The travel sector is expected to grow to a twelve percent share of the global economy in the coming years

The travel sector will continue to grow strongly in the coming years and will account for nearly twelve percent of the global economy by 2033.

This was stated by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the umbrella organization for the global travel and tourism sector, in its forecasts for the next ten years. According to the organization, which includes all tourism sectors such as airlines, hotels, sea shipping, car rentals and travel agencies, the sector will grow to a size of $15.5 trillion (more than 14 trillion euros) in 2033.

This represents a fifty percent increase from the value of $10 trillion in 2019, when travel represented more than ten percent of global GDP.

Not only is travel a huge part of the global economy, but the sector is also growing much faster than the economy as a whole. Economists expect global GDP, a measure of economic growth, to grow at an annual rate of about 2.6 percent annually. WTTC expects annual growth of more than five percent for travel and tourism.

Lots of jobs

Overall, the travel and tourism sector will employ up to 430 million people by 2033, up from 334 million in 2019. This represents about one in every nine jobs worldwide.

WTTC also lists the five largest travel economies, in terms of their contribution to GDP. These consist of the United States, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan. France, Mexico, Italy, India and Spain completed the top ten.

The organization expects that the American travel economy, the largest in the world with a value of $2 trillion, will lose its crown to China in the next decade. By 2033, China’s travel sector will be worth $4 trillion, representing more than 14% of the entire Chinese economy. The American travel sector is expected to grow to three trillion dollars and constitute a share of more than ten percent of the American economy.

Source: National Police Agency