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INTERNATIONAL. The global travel and tourism sector is forecast to grow by +3.5% in 2015, according to new research.
However the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) said, in its annual autumn update to its Economic Impact research, that this figure was slightly lower than the forecast at the beginning of the year, with the drop attributed to weaker domestic spending.
WTTC said the GDP growth was still “strong” given the numerous challenges that the industry has faced this year, including outbreaks of disease, natural disasters, terrorism attacks and political unrest.
The sector’s total contribution to the world economy in 2015 will be US$7.8 trillion, supporting 284 million jobs globally, according to the WTTC. It said visitor exports – money spent by foreign travellers – is forecast to grow by +2.9% in 2015, in line with the continuous growth of international travel.
WTTC President and CEO David Scowsill said: “Travel and tourism is a tremendously resilient sector. Despite a number of terrible regional incidents throughout the year, the sector will still grow +1% faster than global GDP in 2015.”
South Asia is still forecast to be the fastest growing travel and tourism region with a +7.7% increase, which the WTTC said was “heavily stimulated” by growth in India. Latin America is expected to be the slowest growing region, at +1.7%. This is predominantly caused by the slowdown of the Brazilian economy, which is estimated to decline by -2.1% this year, according to the organisation.
Over the next ten years, travel and tourism is forecast to contribute US$11.3 trillion in GDP to the world economy and will support 355 million jobs worldwide. This equates to 1 in 10 jobs on the planet, the WTTC said.
