Excerpt from MSNBC
The World Travel & Tourism Council says the global travel and tourism sector won’t fully recover this year — but it will get close.
The sector is forecast to reach $9.5 trillion in 2023, just 5% shy of its gross domestic product contribution in 2019, according to the WTTC’s 2023 Economic Impact Research.
After a sharp drop in 2020, the global travel sector grew nearly 25% year on year in 2021, followed by a further 22% increase in 2022, according to WTTC’s annual report, produced in partnership with Oxford Economics.
Global recovery will occur in 2024, fueled by the slow but steady return of Chinese tourists, according to the report. From there, the sector will continue to grow.
“We expect 2024 to exceed 2019,” said Julia Simpson, WTTC’s president and CEO.
Regions recovering the fastest
By the end of 2022, tourism levels in 34 countries — out of 185 that were analyzed — rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in terms of GDP contribution, according to the research.
“Countries leading the charge include the U.S. and Dominican Republic,” Simpson told CNBC.
WTTC’s research predicts at least 50 more countries will meet — or be within 95% of reaching — this target by the end of this year.
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