tourism sector issues

Reimagining the $9 trillion tourism economy—what will it take?

Tourism made up 10 percent of global GDP in 2019 and was worth almost $9 trillion, 1 See “Economic impact reports,” World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), wttc.org. making the sector nearly three times larger than agriculture. However, the tourism value chain of suppliers and intermediaries has always been fragmented, with limited coordination among the small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) that make up a large portion of the sector. Governments have generally played a limited role in the industry, with partial oversight and light-touch management.

COVID-19 has caused an unprecedented crisis for the tourism industry. International tourist arrivals are projected to plunge by 60 to 80 percent in 2020, and tourism spending is not likely to return to precrisis levels until 2024. This puts as many as 120 million jobs at risk. 2 “International tourist numbers could fall 60-80% in 2020, UNWTO reports,” World Tourism Organization, May 7, 2020, unwto.org.

Reopening tourism-related businesses and managing their recovery in a way that is safe, attractive for tourists, and economically viable will require coordination at a level not seen before. The public sector may be best placed to oversee this process in the context of the fragmented SME ecosystem, large state-owned enterprises controlling entry points, and the increasing impact of health-related agencies. As borders start reopening and interest in leisure rebounds in some regions , governments could take the opportunity to rethink their role within tourism, thereby potentially both assisting in the sector’s recovery and strengthening it in the long term.

In this article, we suggest four ways in which governments can reimagine their role in the tourism sector in the context of COVID-19.

1. Streamlining public–private interfaces through a tourism nerve center

Before COVID-19, most tourism ministries and authorities focused on destination marketing, industry promotions, and research. Many are now dealing with a raft of new regulations, stimulus programs, and protocols. They are also dealing with uncertainty around demand forecasting, and the decisions they make around which assets—such as airports—to reopen will have a major impact on the safety of tourists and sector employees.

Coordination between the public and private sectors in tourism was already complex prior to COVID-19. In the United Kingdom, for example, tourism falls within the remit of two departments—the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)—which interact with other government agencies and the private sector at several points. Complex coordination structures often make clarity and consistency difficult. These issues are exacerbated by the degree of coordination that will be required by the tourism sector in the aftermath of the crisis, both across government agencies (for example, between the ministries responsible for transport, tourism, and health), and between the government and private-sector players (such as for implementing protocols, syncing financial aid, and reopening assets).

Concentrating crucial leadership into a central nerve center  is a crisis management response many organizations have deployed in similar situations. Tourism nerve centers, which bring together public, private, and semi-private players into project teams to address five themes, could provide an active collaboration framework that is particularly suited to the diverse stakeholders within the tourism sector (Exhibit 1).

We analyzed stimulus packages across 24 economies, 3 Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. which totaled nearly $100 billion in funds dedicated directly to the tourism sector, and close to $300 billion including cross-sector packages with a heavy tourism footprint. This stimulus was generally provided by multiple entities and government departments, and few countries had a single integrated view on beneficiaries and losers. We conducted surveys on how effective the public-sector response has been and found that two-thirds of tourism players were either unaware of the measures taken by government or felt they did not have sufficient impact. Given uncertainty about the timing and speed of the tourism recovery, obtaining quick feedback and redeploying funds will be critical to ensuring that stimulus packages have maximum impact.

2. Experimenting with new financing mechanisms

Most of the $100 billion stimulus that we analyzed was structured as grants, debt relief, and aid to SMEs and airlines. New Zealand has offered an NZ $15,000 (US $10,000) grant per SME to cover wages, for example, while Singapore has instituted an 8 percent cash grant on the gross monthly wages of local employees. Japan has waived the debt of small companies where income dropped more than 20 percent. In Germany, companies can use state-sponsored work-sharing schemes for up to six months, and the government provides an income replacement rate of 60 percent.

Our forecasts indicate that it will take four to seven years for tourism demand to return to 2019 levels, which means that overcapacity will be the new normal in the medium term. This prolonged period of low demand means that the way tourism is financed needs to change. The aforementioned types of policies are expensive and will be difficult for governments to sustain over multiple years. They also might not go far enough. A recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) survey of SMEs in the tourism sector suggested more than half would not survive the next few months, and the failure of businesses on anything like this scale would put the recovery far behind even the most conservative forecasts. 4 See Tourism policy responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19), OECD, June 2020, oecd.org. Governments and the private sector should be investigating new, innovative financing measures.

Revenue-pooling structures for hotels

One option would be the creation of revenue-pooling structures, which could help asset owners and operators, especially SMEs, to manage variable costs and losses moving forward. Hotels competing for the same segment in the same district, such as a beach strip, could have an incentive to pool revenues and losses while operating at reduced capacity. Instead of having all hotels operating at 20 to 40 percent occupancy, a subset of hotels could operate at a higher occupancy rate and share the revenue with the remainder. This would allow hotels to optimize variable costs and reduce the need for government stimulus. Non-operating hotels could channel stimulus funds into refurbishments or other investment, which would boost the destination’s attractiveness. Governments will need to be the intermediary between businesses through auditing or escrow accounts in this model.

Joint equity funds for small and medium-size enterprises

Government-backed equity funds could also be used to deploy private capital to help ensure that tourism-related SMEs survive the crisis (Exhibit 2). This principle underpins the European Commission’s temporary framework for recapitalization of state-aided enterprises, which provided an estimated €1.9 trillion in aid to the EU economy between March and May 2020. 5 See “State aid: Commission expands temporary framework to recapitalisation and subordinated debt measures to further support the economy in the context of the coronavirus outbreak,” European Commission, May 8, 2020, ec.europa.eu. Applying such a mechanism to SMEs would require creating an appropriate equity-holding structure, or securitizing equity stakes in multiple SMEs at once, reducing the overall risk profile for the investor. In addition, developing a standardized valuation methodology would avoid lengthy due diligence processes on each asset. Governments that do not have the resources to co-invest could limit their role to setting up those structures and opening them to potential private investors.

3. Ensuring transparent, consistent communication on protocols

The return of tourism demand requires that travelers and tourism-sector employees feel—and are—safe. Although international organizations such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) have developed a set of guidelines to serve as a baseline, local regulators are layering additional measures on top. This leads to low levels of harmonization regarding regulations imposed by local governments.

Our surveys of traveler confidence in the United States  suggests anxiety remains high, and authorities and destination managers must work to ensure travelers know about, and feel reassured by, protocols put in place for their protection. Our latest survey of traveler sentiment in China  suggests a significant gap between how confident travelers would like to feel and how confident they actually feel; actual confidence in safety is much lower than the expected level asked a month before.

One reason for this low level of confidence is confusion over the safety measures that are currently in place. Communication is therefore key to bolstering demand. Experience in Europe indicates that prompt, transparent, consistent communications from public agencies have had a similar impact on traveler demand as CEO announcements have on stock prices. Clear, credible announcements regarding the removal of travel restrictions have already led to increased air-travel searches and bookings. In the week that governments announced the removal of travel bans to a number of European summer destinations, for example, outbound air travel web search volumes recently exceeded precrisis levels by more than 20 percent in some countries.

The case of Greece helps illustrate the importance of clear and consistent communication. Greece was one of the first EU countries to announce the date of, and conditions and protocols for, border reopening. Since that announcement, Greece’s disease incidence has remained steady and there have been no changes to the announced protocols. The result: our joint research with trivago shows that Greece is now among the top five summer destinations for German travelers for the first time. In July and August, Greece will reach inbound airline ticketing levels that are approximately 50 percent of that achieved in the same period last year. This exceeds the rate in most other European summer destinations, including Croatia (35 percent), Portugal (around 30 percent), and Spain (around 40 percent). 6 Based on IATA Air Travel Pulse by McKinsey. In contrast, some destinations that have had inconsistent communications around the time frame of reopening have shown net cancellations of flights for June and July. Even for the high seasons toward the end of the year, inbound air travel ticketing barely reaches 30 percent of 2019 volumes.

Digital solutions can be an effective tool to bridge communication and to create consistency on protocols between governments and the private sector. In China, the health QR code system, which reflects past travel history and contact with infected people, is being widely used during the reopening stage. Travelers have to show their green, government-issued QR code before entering airports, hotels, and attractions. The code is also required for preflight check-in and, at certain destination airports, after landing.

4. Enabling a digital and analytics transformation within the tourism sector

Data sources and forecasts have shifted, and proliferated, in the crisis. Last year’s demand prediction models are no longer relevant, leaving many destinations struggling to understand how demand will evolve, and therefore how to manage supply. Uncertainty over the speed and shape of the recovery means that segmentation and marketing budgets, historically reassessed every few years, now need to be updated every few months. The tourism sector needs to undergo an analytics transformation to enable the coordination of marketing budgets, sector promotions, and calendars of events, and to ensure that products are marketed to the right population segment at the right time.

Governments have an opportunity to reimagine their roles in providing data infrastructure and capabilities to the tourism sector, and to investigate new and innovative operating models. This was already underway in some destinations before COVID-19. Singapore, for example, made heavy investments in its data and analytics stack over the past decade through the Singapore Tourism Analytics Network (STAN), which provided tourism players with visitor arrival statistics, passenger profiling, spending data, revenue data, and extensive customer-experience surveys. During the COVID-19 pandemic, real-time data on leading travel indicators and “nowcasts” (forecasts for the coming weeks and months) could be invaluable to inform the decisions of both public-sector and private-sector entities.

This analytics transformation will also help to address the digital gap that was evident in tourism even before the crisis. Digital services are vital for travelers: in 2019, more than 40 percent of US travelers used mobile devices to book their trips. 7 Global Digital Traveler Research 2019, Travelport, marketing.cloud.travelport.com; “Mobile travel trends 2019 in the words of industry experts,” blog entry by David MacHale, December 11, 2018, blog.digital.travelport.com. In Europe and the United States, as many as 60 percent of travel bookings are digital, and online travel agents can have a market share as high as 50 percent, particularly for smaller independent hotels. 8 Sean O’Neill, “Coronavirus upheaval prompts independent hotels to look at management company startups,” Skift, May 11, 2020, skift.com. COVID-19 is likely to accelerate the shift to digital as travelers look for flexibility and booking lead times shorten: more than 90 percent of recent trips in China  were booked within seven days of the trip itself. Many tourism businesses have struggled to keep pace with changing consumer preferences around digital. In particular, many tourism SMEs have not been fully able to integrate new digital capabilities in the way that larger businesses have, with barriers including language issues, and low levels of digital fluency. The commission rates on existing platforms, which range from 10 percent for larger hotel brands to 25 percent for independent hotels, also make it difficult for SMEs to compete in the digital space.

Governments are well-positioned to overcome the digital gap within the sector and to level the playing field for SMEs. The Tourism Exchange Australia (TXA) platform, which was created by the Australian government, is an example of enabling at scale. It acts as a matchmaker, connecting suppliers with distributors and intermediaries to create packages attractive to a specific segment of tourists, then uses tourist engagement to provide further analytical insights to travel intermediaries (Exhibit 3). This mechanism allows online travel agents to diversify their offerings by providing more experiences away from the beaten track, which both adds to Australia’s destination attractiveness, and gives small suppliers better access to customers.

Governments that seize the opportunity to reimagine tourism operations and oversight will be well positioned to steer their national tourism industries safely into—and set them up to thrive within—the next normal.

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Margaux Constantin is an associate partner in McKinsey’s Dubai office, Steve Saxon is a partner in the Shanghai office, and Jackey Yu  is an associate partner in the Hong Kong office.

The authors wish to thank Hugo Espirito Santo, Urs Binggeli, Jonathan Steinbach, Yassir Zouaoui, Rebecca Stone, and Ninan Chacko for their contributions to this article.

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Fact sheet: 2022 national travel and tourism strategy, office of public affairs.

The 2022 National Travel and Tourism Strategy was released on June 6, 2022, by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo on behalf of the Tourism Policy Council (TPC). The new strategy focuses the full efforts of the federal government to promote the United States as a premier destination grounded in the breadth and diversity of our communities, and to foster a sector that drives economic growth, creates good jobs, and bolsters conservation and sustainability. Drawing on engagement and capabilities from across the federal government, the strategy aims to support broad-based economic growth in travel and tourism across the United States, its territories, and the District of Columbia.

The federal government will work to implement the strategy under the leadership of the TPC and in partnership with the private sector, aiming toward an ambitious five-year goal of increasing American jobs by attracting and welcoming 90 million international visitors, who we estimate will spend $279 billion, annually by 2027.

The new National Travel and Tourism Strategy supports growth and competitiveness for an industry that, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, generated $1.9 trillion in economic output and supported 9.5 million American jobs. Also, in 2019, nearly 80 million international travelers visited the United States and contributed nearly $240 billion to the U.S. economy, making the United States the global leader in revenue from international travel and tourism. As the top services export for the United States that year, travel and tourism generated a $53.4 billion trade surplus and supported 1 million jobs in the United States.

The strategy follows a four-point approach:

• Promoting the United States as a Travel Destination Goal : Leverage existing programs and assets to promote the United States to international visitors and broaden marketing efforts to encourage visitation to underserved communities.
• Facilitating Travel to and Within the United States Goal : Reduce barriers to trade in travel services and make it safer and more efficient for visitors to enter and travel within the United States.
• Ensuring Diverse, Inclusive, and Accessible Tourism Experiences Goal : Extend the benefits of travel and tourism by supporting the development of diverse tourism products, focusing on under-served communities and populations. Address the financial and workplace needs of travel and tourism businesses, supporting destination communities as they grow their tourism economies. Deliver world-class experiences and customer service at federal lands and waters that showcase the nation’s assets while protecting them for future generations.
• Fostering Resilient and Sustainable Travel and Tourism Goal : Reduce travel and tourism’s contributions to climate change and build a travel and tourism sector that is resilient to natural disasters, public health threats, and the impacts of climate change. Build a sustainable sector that integrates protecting natural resources, supporting the tourism economy, and ensuring equitable development.

Travel and Tourism Fast Facts

• The travel and tourism industry supported 9.5 million American jobs through $1.9 trillion of economic activity in 2019. In fact, 1 in every 20 jobs in the United States was either directly or indirectly supported by travel and tourism. These jobs can be found in industries like lodging, food services, arts, entertainment, recreation, transportation, and education.
• Travel and tourism was the top services export for the United States in 2019, generating a $53.4 billion trade surplus.
• The travel and tourism industry was one of the U.S. business sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent health and travel restrictions, with travel exports decreasing nearly 65% from 2019 to 2020. 
• The decline in travel and tourism contributed heavily to unemployment; leisure and hospitality lost 8.2 million jobs between February and April 2020 alone, accounting for 37% of the decline in overall nonfarm employment during that time. 
• By 2021, the rollout of vaccines and lifting of international and domestic restrictions allowed travel and tourism to begin its recovery. International arrivals to the United States grew to 22.1 million in 2021, up from 19.2 million in 2020. Spending by international visitors also grew, reaching $81.0 billion, or 34 percent of 2019’s total.

More about the Tourism Policy Council and the 2022 National Travel and Tourism Strategy

Created by Congress and chaired by Secretary Raimondo, the Tourism Policy Council (TPC) is the interagency council charged with coordinating national policies and programs relating to travel and tourism. At the direction of Secretary Raimondo, the TPC created a new five-year strategy to focus U.S. government efforts in support of the travel and tourism sector which has been deeply and disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full strategy here

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Sustainable Development

For people and planet.

Tourism is both highly vulnerable to climate change while at the same time contributing to it. Threats to the sector are diverse, including direct and indirect impacts such as more extreme weather events, pollution, water shortages, biodiversity loss and damage to assets and attractions at destinations, among others. Accelerating climate action in tourism is therefore of utmost importance for the resilience of the sector.

The green transformation of the tourism sector is needed, not just for the planet, but also for tourism itself, for boosting competitiveness and increasing resilience.

To mark World Environment Day 2020, the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme , which is led by UNWTO, announced its new vision for global tourism– growing better, stronger, and balancing the needs of people, planet and prosperity. The One Planet Vision for the Responsible Recovery of the Tourism Sector is structured around six lines of action to guide responsible tourism recovery for people, planet and prosperity, namely public health, social inclusion, biodiversity conservation, climate action, circular economy and governance and finance.

UNWTO also focuses on the fight against plastic pollution while effectively facing the public health and hygiene challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, led by UNWTO , the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, published the Recommendations for the Tourism Sector to Continue Taking Action on Plastic Pollution during COVID-19 Recovery illustrating how reducing the plastic footprint, increasing the engagement of suppliers, working closer with waste service providers, and ensuring transparency on the actions taken, can significantly contribute to the responsible recovery of the tourism sector.

From 93 companies and organizations, a further 32 signatories were welcomed on board during 2021 and 2022 , among them TUI Group, Palladium Hotel Group, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Hostelling International, Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association and Visit Valencia. To mark the confirmation of the new signatories, UNWTO and the United Nations Environment Programme, in conjunction with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, held a special panel discussion with the theme Eliminate. Innovate. Circulate. Strategies from the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative.

Another key initiative designed by UNWTO is International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO), a network of tourism observatories monitoring the economic, environmental, and social impact of tourism at the destination level. The initiative is based on UNWTO’s long-standing commitment to the sustainable and resilient growth of the sector through measurement and monitoring, supporting the evidence-based management of tourism. Since its establishment in 2004, as of September 2022, a total of 33 observatories have joined the UNWTO INSTO network, including five that joined during the pandemic, Mallorca, Barcelona, Yukon, and Bogotá and Malaga). The INSTO observatories are required to monitor 11 mandatory issue areas : tourism seasonality, employment; destination economic benefits; energy management; water management; waste (sewage) management; solid waste management; climate action; accessibility; local satisfaction; and governance.

Glasgow Declaration: A Commitment to a Decade of Climate Action in Tourism

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) (4 November 2021, Glasgow, Scotland)

UNWTO served as the voice of tourism at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) (4 November 2021, Glasgow, Scotland), launching the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism geared to commit the tourism sector to take strong to reduce emissions by at least half over the next decade and to reach net zero emissions as soon as possible before 2050.

The " Glasgow Declaration: A Commitment to a Decade of Climate Action in Tourism " sets out a clear and coherent sector-wide message and approach to climate action over the next decade, in line with the broader scientific framework and the urgency to act now.

The commitments that the Glasgow Declaration proposes to its signatories are:

• Support the global commitment to at least halve emissions by 2030 and reach zero by 2050. o Deliver climate action plans within 12 months of signing up (or updating existing plans) and implement them.
• Publicly report on targets on an annual basis.
• Align with 5 shared pathways to accelerate tourism's transformative capacity. These are: measure, decarbonise, regenerate, collaborate and finance.
• Work in a spirit of collaboration, share good practices and solutions, and disseminate information.

Up to September 2022 more than 600 signatories had committed to the Declaration , including many important players such as the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), leading global Hotel group., Accor, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), as well as Booking, Expedia, Intrepid and others.

“The historic deal is the beginning of decarbonization the world via tourism. Our main four pillars to enforce the declaration will be to measure, decarbonize, regenerate, and unlock innovative financing. This is the initial start, and we will work to attract more private companies. When there is a crisis, there is always an opportunity to invest, learn, and develop sustainably.” - UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili.

Innovation and Digital Transformation

From the very start of the current leadership mandate, in 2018, UNWTO has emphasized the importance of embracing and investing in new ideas. A new department was created in the Organization to deliver on the potential of innovation through promoting entrepreneurship, recognizing leading innovators and providing them with the practical and financial support they need to turn ideas into action.

To anticipate, address and overcome the new challenges and trends of the tourism sector, UNWTO is currently focused on a strategy on Innovation, Education, Digital Transformation, and Investments. The UNWTO Innovation Network works to promote exchange of knowledge among actors and change-makers with the objective of contributing to the promotion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The enormous Interest in UNWTO’s innovation ecosystem and start-up competitions keeps growing, showcasing the talent unleashed and our shared readiness to hear new voices and embrace new ideas. Up to September 2022, the UNWTO global innovation ecosystem counts on than 12,000 start-ups from 160 countries, with US$83 million mobilized and 300 corporate partners working on new tourism technologies.

Tourism for Investments and Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship in tourism is built on collaboration between governments, academia, corporations, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups, as well as investors, supporting business partners and other stakeholders. Restarting tourism is unthinkable without investments that boost economic growth, job creation and sustainability.

UNWTO is collaborating with institutions including the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation and the Inter-American Development Bank. These partnerships have attracted more than 200 investors as part of UNWTO’s global investment network , advancing critical work such as supporting hotel chains from 50 countries in becoming more sustainable.

In 2022, for the third consecutive year, UNWTO partnered with FDI intelligence from the Financial Times to develop a joint publication on Tourism Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) , analysing data on Greenfield investments trends. Using both data from fDi Markets and UNWTO, the Tourism Investment Report 2022 found that while the tourism sector has been showing signs of recovery, foreign direct investment (FDI) into the sector remained low in 2021 and continued a downward trajectory in the first of 2022, outlining the key challenges as well as highlighting the sector’s biggest investors.

To further the partnership to grow green investments in the tourism sector, UNWTO and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) launched the Green Investments for Sustainable Tourism. Seven countries participated in the pilot phase (India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam), and the initiative will continue to grow. Alongside this, a new UNWTO Investment Guidelines Series: Enabling Frameworks for Tourism Investment was launched to focus on investment opportunities in several key destinations .

Tourism for Gender Equality

UNWTO is committed to enhancing the positive impact of tourism on women’s lives, and, in so doing, contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 5 – to "achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls". As a sector with a majority female workforce worldwide (54%) and most women in low-skilled or informal work, women have felt the economic shock to tourism caused by and the pandemic the hardest. As such, UNWTO produced a Series of Recommendations for an Inclusive Response  to ensure that women are not left behind.

The UNWTO project ‘ Centre Stage: Women’s Empowerment During the COVID-19 Recovery ’, is designed to strengthen, coordinate and focus work on gender equality in tourism governmental institutions. It is currently being implemented with the support of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany and UN Women.

Through the Centre Stage project, UNWTO has supported four National Tourism Administrations, tourism businesses, NGOs and tourism organizations from Jordan, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, as they implement a one-year action plan for women’s empowerment. This included targeted training programmes, measures to boost female career progression, improvements to the legal framework and the collection of sex-disaggregated tourism employment data.

Other publications spearheaded by UNWTO include Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines for the Public Sector in Tourism and the Gender Inclusive Strategy for Tourism Businesses , a new set of guidelines addressing the needs of women in the tourism sector. These guidelines provide concrete recommendations for governments working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of international women’s rights treaties such as relevant ILO Conventions and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Meanwhile, the  Regional Report on Women in the Middle East maps the participation of women in the tourism sector across the region prior to the pandemic. In doing so, it assesses the contribution of tourism to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5. The report, compiled to mark the 2020 G20 Saudi Presidency, aims to inform further work on gender equality and equip stakeholders with tools they need to boost women's empowerment. 

Tourism for Social Inclusion

According to WHO, 15% of the world’s population (1 billion people) live with some form of disability. Accessibility for all to tourism facilities, products, and services should be a central part of any responsible and sustainable tourism policy. Accessibility is not only about human rights. It is a business opportunity for destinations and companies to embrace all visitors and enhance their revenues.

Recovery should include accessibility as a central pillar in measures to improve destinations’ offer and competitiveness, contributing to inclusive environments, services, and employment.

UNWTO continues to build on its successful partnership with the Spanish ONCE Foundation and the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) . The joint work will continue to focus on the promotion of good practices during the current crisis, the application of standards , the measurement of accessible tourism, as well as labour inclusion and institutional disability inclusive policies. All three have contributed to the International Standardization Organization ( ISO Standards ) being the first global standard aimed at implementing and improving accessibility throughout the tourism value chain.

Launched on the 2020 International Day of Persons with Disabilities , the UNWTO Inclusive Recovery Guide Issue I: Persons with Disabilities, suggests measures for the whole tourism value chain to build back better, becoming more accessible and more competitive. Just as other guidelines on the UNWTO series, this document will continue to be updated.

Tourism for Youth Development

Young people are disproportionately impacted by interlinked global crises, from climate change to conflicts to persistent poverty. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these fragilities and has put youth in the spotlight, particularly given the potential social and economic consequences for this demographic, both in emerging and mature destinations.

Youth development and engagement are cross-cutting issues in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , and they can be a powerful catalyst to advance the contribution of tourism particularly for Goal 8 on economic growth and jobs, and Goal 12 on sustainable consumption and production as they can lead a transformation into a more responsible way of traveling. As the leaders of tomorrow, it is pivotal that young people become involved in shaping the global vision for the future.

UNWTO recognises youth as the present and future of the sector introduced several youth centred initiatives. Amongst them is the UNWTO Students League . The league is an innovative 360º competition for students that fosters talent development, Bridges the gap between studies and the realities of the sector and produces solutions for the Challenges of the Sector aligned with the SDGs.

Also placing young people at the centre of tourism’s future is the Global Youth Tourism Summit (GYTS) , the first edition was held on 29 June-July 2, 2022, in Sorrento, Italy, and welcomed more than 120 young delegates from more than 61 countries, alongside UNWTO Ambassadors for Tourism drawn from the worlds of sport, business and gastronomy. The event included a series of international events, workshops, and other educational initiatives, that will give children and youth a unique platform to share and discuss ideas and shape their visions for the future of sustainable tourism within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Out of the Summit, the Sorrento Call to Action offers a bold and ground-breaking vision for young people to be active participants in tourism’s restart and growth as a pillar of sustainable and inclusive development. 

Protecting Culture and Heritage

UNWTO promotes resources aimed at strengthening the dialogue between tourism and culture, while also promoting the exchange of good practices showcasing inclusive management systems and innovative cultural tourism experiences.

Tourism and the audio-visual industry are natural bedfellows. Tourists connect directly with the sites where films and television series are made, which gives these places added value to support the sustainable development of the sector. UNWTO and Netflix have partnered on the publication of a report which looks at the role of film and series as drivers for tourism and cultural affinity. The  Global Report on Cultural Affinity and Screen Tourism  explores the growing affection one has towards a particular country or culture displayed on the screen.

Against this backdrop, the cultural expressions of Indigenous peoples feature among the most distinctive features of tourism destinations, making them relevant players within the sector. Despite their global significance, Indigenous peoples have historically been among the most marginalized of population groups. UNWTO has developed measures to give indigenous communities access to relevant information , which may be compromised by linguistic and physical obstacles, or scarce external contacts . Previous work with the communities, allowed tourism operators to facilitate information flow between community focal points and crisis-management entities .

Again, UNWTO and its partners presented the Weaving the Recovery project to help Indigenous women benefit from tourism through fair trade and community entrepreneurship. This initiative, which brings together UNWTO, the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance (WINTA), Centro de las Artes Indígenas (CAI) and the NGO IMPACTO, was selected as one of the ten most promising projects among more than 850 initiatives to address the most pressing global challenges. The project will test different methodologies in pilot communities, starting with Mexico, to enable indigenous women access markets and demonstrate their leadership .

Tourism for Rural Development

Tourism is a lifeline for rural communities, providing jobs, supporting rural businesses and protecting natural and cultural heritage. However, its true force still needs to be fully deployed.

UNWTO designated 2020 as the ‘ Year of Tourism and Rural Development ’, a theme shared with that year’s World Tourism Day. For the occasion, UNWTO partnered with Google Arts & Culture to bring together a new collection to help anyone to choose their perfect virtual travel experience, with thousands of museums and cultural destinations to explore. Alongside this, the UNWTO Recommendations on Tourism and Rural Development were released to provide expert guidance for a wide range of stakeholders.

UNWTO then designated World Tourism Day 2021 as a day to focus on “ Tourism for Inclusive Growth ”. This was an opportunity to look beyond the statistics and acknowledge that, behind every number, there is a person. It was a way to promote the potential of tourism to create jobs and opportunities, to advance and highlight the role tourism can play in preserving and promoting natural and cultural heritage and curbing urban migration.

With the vision of making tourism a force for transformation, rural development, and community wellbeing, UNWTO launched the ‘ Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO ’. promotes and enhances the role of tourism in safeguarding rural villages, along with their landscapes, natural and cultural diversity, knowledge systems, and local values and activities. It was launched on the opening of UNWTO’s Regional Office in the Middle East, underscoring the focus of the Office on, among other issues, the role of tourism in rural development. In the first round, 44 villages from 32 countries were granted the recognition, and these will benefit from continued mentoring and be given a platform to share ideas and knowledge.

Parallel to this, and under the leadership of the G20 Saudi Presidency, UNWTO and the G20 Tourism Working Group developed the AlUla Framework for Inclusive Community Development through Tourism to help fulfil the sector’s potential to contribute to and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The Framework provides guidance and inspiration to all governments, as well as all other key stakeholders in the tourism sector, empowering local communities with the aim of fostering a truly holistic and integrated approach to development through tourism.

The new UNWTO Tourism for Rural Development Programme, which includes the Best Tourism Villages initiative, will provide training for national governments and municipalities, as well as grants for individual destinations. A first Observatory on Tourism for Rural Development will also provide key data and guide decision-making in the sector.

Meeting New Tourism Trends

Tourism continues to evolve, with new travel trends emerging and growing. From mountain tourism, gastronomy and wine tourism, and sports tourism to mention just a few, UNWTO supports its Members to embrace new trends and to diversify their tourism sectors.

Mountain tourism has significant potential to stimulate local economic growth and social change due to its close links with other economic activities, its contribution to GDP and job creation, and its capacity to promote the dispersal of demand. For many destinations, foodmaking as well as winemaking represent an integral part of their history and identity and have become the key elements in their branding. Gastronomy and wine tourism represents an opportunity to revitalize and diversify tourism, promote local economic development, involve many different professional sectors, and bring new uses to the primary sector.

The Guidelines for the Development of Gastronomy Tourism have been developed by UNWTO and the Basque Culinary Center (BCC), a UNWTO affiliate member, as part of an ongoing collaboration. The guidelines serve as a practical toolkit to support the development of gastronomy tourism in destinations by providing recommendations on key aspects such as planning and management by national tourism administrations (NTAs), national tourism organizations (NTOs) and destination management organizations (DMOs).

In a further boost to Africa’s gastronomy and tourism potential, a dedicated session to celebrate the continent’s diverse culinary offering was held during the 6th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism in Bruges, Belgium.

“It was a significant period in the history of African gastronomy celebrating the continent’s diverse culinary culture and opened doors for people to get curious about African gastronomy. It was a brilliant idea and it exposed my project and gave me a platform to move on.”

The UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism builds on the Organisation’s work in promoting innovation. The Gastronomy Forum similarly represents a unique opportunity for experts from across the growing field of gastronomy tourism to share new ideas and best practices in promoting Rural Tourism and Regional Development. Likewise, the UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism allows leaders in their field to find concrete solutions to build back better and make tourism an enabler of the way forward towards a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future for rural communities.

Working together, UNWTO and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) will build on the potential of sports to celebrate shared humanity, foster friendship across borders and create experiences and opportunities for people everywhere. Tourism and football are natural partners, bringing joy to many millions with benefits going far beyond vacations or single matches.

Tourism Transformed

Tourism emerged out of crisis at a crossroad. If it is to realize its full potential to drive sustainable and inclusive development while also fulfilling its climate action responsibilities, the sector cannot continue along the same, pre-pandemic path. UNWTO emphasizes the vital importance of rethinking and transforming tourism.

In the build up to World Tourism Day 2022, the determination of both the tourism sector and of tourists themselves to do more and to do better is evident. However, the actions of individual tourists, single businesses and destinations will not in themselves be enough to deliver transformation at the speed or scale required.

Looking ahead, UNWTO emphasizes the importance of whole-government approaches to tourism reform, alongside enhanced public and private partnerships. Tourism can only deliver on its unique power to provide opportunity and drive sustainable and inclusive growth if it is given practical and economic support. The future starts now.

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Economic Impact Research

• In 2023, the Travel & Tourism sector contributed 9.1% to the global GDP; an increase of 23.2% from 2022 and only 4.1% below the 2019 level.
• In 2023, there were 27 million new jobs, representing a 9.1% increase compared to 2022, and only 1.4% below the 2019 level.
• Domestic visitor spending rose by 18.1% in 2023, surpassing the 2019 level.
• International visitor spending registered a 33.1% jump in 2023 but remained 14.4% below the 2019 total.

Click here for links to the different economy/country and regional reports

Why conduct research?

From the outset, our Members realised that hard economic facts were needed to help governments and policymakers truly understand the potential of Travel & Tourism. Measuring the size and growth of Travel & Tourism and its contribution to society, therefore, plays a vital part in underpinning WTTC’s work.

What research does WTTC carry out?

Each year, WTTC and Oxford Economics produce reports covering the economic contribution of our sector in 185 countries, for 26 economic and geographic regions, and for more than 70 cities. We also benchmark Travel & Tourism against other economic sectors and analyse the impact of government policies affecting the sector such as jobs and visa facilitation.

Visit our Research Hub via the button below to find all our Economic Impact Reports, as well as other reports on Travel and Tourism. 

5 Mega Challenges Facing the Global Travel and Tourism Industry

The global travel and tourism industry sits smack in the eye of a perfect storm. On the one hand, demand is up. Planes are packed. Our wanderlust is lustier than ever. On the other hand, rising inflation, lagging infrastructure, geopolitical uncertainty, staffing shortages, and COVID’s lingering impact have all converged into the stuff of nightmares — for travelers and the travel industry alike.

As researchers and advisors to global tourism boards and brands across the travel and tourism ecosystem, we are seeing some of these challenges hit certain players harder than others. On the bright side, recovery is on the horizon. But some geographies and industry sectors will face steeper challenges as five major headwinds converge upon them. We’re seeing opportunities for brands to get ahead of the storm and put the wind at their back.

These are the top five challenges facing the travel and tourism industry today, along with our perspective on navigating the way forward.

Travel Insight #1: Inflation means trade-offs and discretionary travel may lose out

Just when tourism was on the rebound, rising inflation came nipping at the heels of a travel boom. Escalent’s forthcoming 2022 Holiday Shopping & Travel Study revealed only 42% of consumers feel confident they’ll achieve their 2022 holiday travel plans (down 24 percentage points from 2021), and 49% of consumers are uncertain their holiday plans will be achieved (up 23 percentage points from 2021).

For the travel and tourism industry, inflation is a huge concern since it drives up product prices and affects consumers’ willingness to spend on discretionary travel. According to Euromonitor, 63% of travel executives said inflation was having a moderate to extensive impact on their businesses. Subsequently, over half of global travel companies acted in kind, by raising all or some of their prices. This was even higher in the Americas, where 59% of the companies raised all or some of their prices. Meanwhile, 44% of businesses accepted that they would suffer from having a lower profit margin by absorbing the inflationary costs rather than passing them on to their consumers to limit impact on their travel plans.

During inflationary times, it is common to see brands cut back on their marketing and advertising spend. While this reduces costs short term, it can be a setback to building long-term brand trust. In times of uncertainty, consumers tend to gravitate towards certainty, something a trusted brand can confer. And a destination is a brand. The more trust you can build amid uncertainty, the better.

Travel Insight #2: The ripple effects of geopolitical disruption

Geopolitical instability is also a key concern for the travel and tourism industry. The outlook for global travel and tourism for inbound spending is expected to be at 45% of 2019 levels, according to Euromonitor’s travel forecast model. The war in Ukraine is estimated to have caused a $7 billion decline in global inbound tourism, while Russian outbound tourism has all but collapsed under economic sanctions, airspace closures and flight bans. The loss of big-spending Russian visitors will impact travel destinations globally, but especially in Europe, the Caribbean and Turkey.

What happens when your high-value source market can’t travel? The ripple effects of geopolitical disruption are felt across regional clusters, forcing travel and tourism entities to rethink their source markets and reset their tourism marketing and targeting strategy.

Travel Insight #3: The travel and tourism infrastructure is in trouble

The pent-up travel demand is causing additional strain on the existing infrastructure, particularly for the airline sector. Problems with safety protocols and compliance with new national and international health standards are predicted to be made worse by capacity constraints when the industry recovers. This is expected to result in (even) longer lines, (more) crowded terminals and operational bottlenecks.

Social distancing measures have been lifted in many countries, including the US. But measures are still in place in many airports around the world, thus reducing airport capacity. Airports that operated close to their saturation capacity before the COVID crisis can expect to reach their maximum saturation capacity at just 60%–75% of their pre-COVID peaks.

According to ACI World, as air transport demand recovers, passenger demand will put more pressure on existing airport infrastructures. This may have socio-economic consequences, if not addressed in time. If long-term capacity constraints are not addressed through capital investments, it is estimated to lead to a reduction of up to 5.1 billion passengers globally, by 2040. For every million passengers that airports cannot accommodate due to airport capacity constraints in 2040, there would be 10,500 fewer jobs and 346 million USD less in GDP contribution from the industry.

Airports are often the “first impression” of a destination. A traveler’s airport experience sets the stage for the rest of the journey. When greeted with chaos and delays, even the most intrepid traveler can sour on the experience. Recently the US has made modest steps towards infrastructure improvement, including the Infrastructure Investment Act passed in November 2021, which includes spending for airports. While its impact will not be immediately felt, many travel associations have applauded the passing of this long overdue legislation.

Travel Insight #4: There’s no quick fix for the staffing shortage

If you’ve stepped foot in an airport this summer, you already know. The travel industry is facing a severe staffing challenge, particularly for customer-facing roles at hotels and airlines. Industry CEOs acknowledge that they are struggling to add staff to meet demand.

Airlines, in particular, are struggling to fill staffing requirements. Boeing’s 2021 Pilot and Technician Outlook voices concern that many airline workers who were furloughed during COVID may have left the industry permanently. The commercial airline industry needs 612,000 new pilots, 626,000 new maintenance technicians and 886,000 new cabin crew members over the next 20 years. Hotels and hospitality are also struggling, making it harder to deliver on guests’ expectations. Many hotels are shifting housekeeping services to a by-request-only model and some are cutting back on food and beverage amenities, including room service and restaurants.

What’s the precautionary tale to take away from this staffing mess? It can take decades to build brand trust, and one canceled flight, one bad stay, to destroy it. How people experience your brand — no matter if it’s in the best of times or the worst of times — stays with them. Travelers expect consistency from major brands. It will take time and investment for many airline and hospitality brands to rebuild trust in the quality and consistency of their brand experience.

Travel Insight #5: COVID is with us for the long haul

COVID travel restrictions are still impacting many elements of world tourism, with countries like China continuing to impose stringent restrictions and quarantines on visitors as well as Chinese outbound travelers.

In Asia Pacific, 83% of travel businesses report that ongoing COVID restrictions continue to have a moderate to extensive impact. This compares with 59% in Western Europe, according to Euromonitor. Although less, compared to 2021 levels, COVID concerns among travelers persist. Ongoing concerns, including new variants, affect the travel decisions of 55% of travelers, according to another recent study. Travelers are planning their trips cautiously, and nearly 70% are avoiding certain destinations, with 56% preferring close destinations and 56% avoiding crowded places.

Just as sanctions have grounded Russian travelers, COVID restrictions are keeping Chinese travelers homebound. Popular destinations for Chinese tourists such as Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Australia continue losing out on billions in tourism revenue. And countries with strict quarantine requirements like Japan continue to struggle. Between June 10 and July 10 this year, Japan hosted only 1,500 international tourists, according to data from Japan’s Immigration Services Agency. That’s down 95% from the same period in 2019. Who wants to spend half their holiday in quarantine? Destinations like Japan have focused on promoting domestic travel, but with COVID with us for the long haul, doubling down on domestic travel marketing and promotions is not a sustainable strategy.

Turn disruption into opportunity with tourism industry research and consulting

Escalent specializes in travel and tourism market research, traveler behavior, tourism investment strategy and consultative support across the travel and tourism ecosystem. Learn more about our Travel & Tourism practice and let us help you ride out the storm and go forth with confidence.

SOURCES CITED

(forthcoming) Escalent 2022 Holiday Shopping and Travel Study Please contact us if you would like to be notified when the report is available. View press release .

Voice of the Industry: Travel Survey, Facing New Challenges, Euromonitor, May 2022

Travel: Quarterly Statement Q1 2022, Euromonitor, May 2022

Holiday Barometer among Europeans, North Americans, Asians & Oceanians, Ipsos, June 2022

Japan is open to travel. So why aren’t tourists coming back? CNN, July 31, 2022

Deloitte travel outlook, The winding path to recovery 2022

Half of US Hospitality Workers Won’t Return in Job Crunch, Bloomberg, July 2021

Staff Shortages: World Travel & Tourism Council Travel Survey, May 2022

Related Industry: Travel & Tourism

Related Solution: Brand Positioning , Customer Experience Management , Market Assessment

Related Expertise: Secondary Research

Vivek leads Escalent’s Travel & Tourism practice where he works with tourism boards, airlines, hotels and hospitality brands across the globe, including in China, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. A featured thought leader at global travel and tourism forums such as ITB, TTRA, and PCMA, his expertise spans the Travel & Tourism value chain. Vivek is an experienced business executive with expertise in various business elements including operations, business development and P&L management. A seasoned insights leader, he advises clients on market assessment  and entry strategy, market sizing and growth strategies. An engineer by training, he holds an MBA in Strategy & Marketing from the Indian Institute of Management. Vivek has a keen interest in human psychology and believes that a transparent, win-all proposition is the key to creating a sustainable people-centric business.

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The "Good Tourism" Blog

For diverse perspectives on sustainable tourism & responsible travel ... because travel & tourism is everyone's business., what are tourism’s biggest challenges & threats over the next five years to 2027.

Over the next five years, what is the single biggest chal­lenge or threat facing tour­ism where you work, or that you have iden­ti­fied through your research and study? 

And what are the key strategies that your organ­isa­tion, des­tin­a­tion, or the industry at large should employ to over­come it?

It’s a  “Good Tour­ism” Insight Bites  question.

Your cor­res­pond­ent put the ques­tion to a range of travel & tour­ism stake­hold­ers — “GT” Insight authors, “GT” Part­ners, and their invit­ees — and invited emailed writ­ten responses of no more than 300 words. 

Thanks to the 15 respond­ents who shared their thoughts. Their answers appear in the order received.  Click/touch a name to go to their answer:

• Greg Bak­un­zi  — Reviv­ing com­munity-led pro­grams in Rwanda
• Saverio Francesco Ber­to­lu­cci  — Mass travel, under­ca­pa­city, and overtourism
• Sudip­ta K Sarkar  — The low qual­ity of tour­ism & hos­pit­al­ity employment
• K Michael Hay­wood  — The ‘great resig­na­tion’ from tour­ism & hos­pit­al­ity jobs
• Edwin Magio  — Cli­mate change & cli­mate action
• Wolfgang Georg Arlt  — ‘The cli­mate catastrophe’
• Jim Butcher  — Trans­port­a­tion & energy
• Cato Hol­ter­man  — Tour­ism is ‘highly sens­it­ive to cli­mate change’
• Yesaya San­dang  — Rein­vent­ing tour­ism for ‘eco­lo­gic­al integ­rity’ in Indonesia
• Peace Mutoni  — Slower growth, new mar­kets for Rwanda
• Sham­iso Nyajeka  — Poor gov­ernance in Afric­an tour­ism development
• Richard A Shep­ard  — COVID, war, infla­tion … What now for the Black Sea?
• Issoufou Adamou Has­sane  — Social and eco­nom­ic sta­bil­ity in Niger
• Trav­is Clark  — Suc­cess is a threat to Khao Sok, Thailand
• Jona­thon Day  —  ‘ Cross­ing the chasm’: Main­stream­ing sus­tain­ab­il­ity in tourism

What do you think?

Pre­vi­ous “GT” Insight Bites:

• ‘Tour­ism is built on the back­bone of white suprem­acy’. What do you think?
• Really, what’s the dif­fer­ence? ‘Sus­tain­able tour­ism’ vs ‘regen­er­at­ive tourism’
• Want a career in tour­ism? Import­ant things you should know
• Diverse per­spect­ives on travel & tour­ism and a fairer world
• Diverse per­spect­ives on eco­nom­ic degrowth and tourism
• Diverse per­spect­ives on vis­it­or dispersion

Reviving community-led programs in Rwanda

Greg bakunzi , founder,  red rocks initiative for sustainable development  &  red rocks rwanda.

Red Rocks Ini­ti­at­ive for Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment works hand in hand with its sis­ter social enter­prise Red Rocks Eco-tours Rwanda with a man­date to link tour­ism, con­ser­va­tion, and sus­tain­able devel­op­ment in our community

As we look for­ward to the next years — con­tinu­ing to mit­ig­ate the neg­at­ive effects of the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic on our vil­lage as a travel des­tin­a­tion — we are heav­ily chal­lenged with a need to revive our com­munity-led programs.

These pro­grams were the sole income-gen­er­at­ing activ­it­ies for our loc­al people pri­or to the pandemic.

We are com­mit­ted to help­ing our com­munity bounce back through a relief and response campaign. 

The concept is based on the belief that we shall only be able to pion­eer growth after the pan­dem­ic by put­ting people first; giv­ing them pro­grams and pro­jects that offer skills train­ing and job sup­port, while meet­ing the needs of dif­fer­ent groups of com­munity members.

As we work with like-minded indi­vidu­als to rebuild our soci­ety, we use approaches such as work­shops and sens­it­isa­tion cam­paigns to equip loc­al people with the know­ledge and oppor­tun­it­ies that will allow gradu­al social and eco­nom­ic growth with­in the community.

We are optim­ist­ic that, by join­ing efforts with oth­er com­munity part­ners, we can return to nor­mal lives as a tour­ism destination. 

We believe that we can con­trib­ute to wider soci­et­al recov­ery based on the eco­nom­ic growth, jobs, and oppor­tun­it­ies to trans­form lives that tour­ism offers, while ensur­ing our pro­grams address the need for envir­on­ment­al and socio-cul­tur­al sus­tain­ab­il­ity, con­ser­va­tion, and cli­mate action.

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Mass travel, undercapacity, and overtourism

Saverio francesco bertolucci , administrative assistant,  alcambarcelona , spain.

Due to glob­al­isa­tion and the exper­i­en­tial eco­nomy trend, tour­ism des­tin­a­tions risk suf­fer­ing from under­ca­pa­city issues, lead­ing to overtourism. 

Post-pan­dem­ic data show alarm­ing tour­ism arrivals trends, which do not fol­low the same pace of des­tin­a­tion development. 

In the short-run, many estab­lished and emer­ging des­tin­a­tions will have to face num­bers of tour­ists that they will not be able to sus­tain nor accommodate 

Nowadays, soci­ety expects a lot, and in a short time. Man­age­ment and plan­ning pro­ced­ures are proven not to be as fast as soci­ety wishes and, there­fore, mass travel, under­ca­pa­city, and over­tour­ism are togeth­er going to present the main chal­lenge for the major­ity of grow­ing tour­ism destinations.

The low quality of tourism & hospitality employment

Sudipta k sarkar , senior lecturer in tourism management,  anglia ruskin university , uk.

A per­tin­ent chal­lenge that is rel­at­ively less dis­cussed across tour­ism circles is the qual­ity of tour­ism employment. 

Tour­ism jobs, across all sec­tors, are per­ceived to be ‘low-skilled’, less cre­at­ive, repet­it­ive, and less socio-eco­nom­ic­ally rewarding. 

Tour­ism cor­por­a­tions make profits com­par­able to their coun­ter­parts in oth­er (high-profit) sec­tors like tech or fin­ance, but that does not trans­late into jobs that are as luc­rat­ive or as esteemed as in those sectors. 

The undesirab­il­ity of the jobs avail­able has been one of the main reas­ons for the grave short­age of hos­pit­al­ity staff in the cur­rent post-pan­dem­ic scenario. 

Hos­pit­al­ity jobs are per­ceived to be less ful­filling, with long work­ing hours, lower remu­ner­a­tion, and few­er oppor­tun­it­ies for cre­ativ­ity and growth.

Many who lost hos­pit­al­ity jobs dur­ing the pan­dem­ic have moved to oth­er sec­tors that can offer rel­at­ively more reward­ing careers. 

There­fore, there is an urgent need to trans­form tour­ism employ­ment into a career that is more know­ledge-based, innov­a­tion-ori­ented, and that requires high­er-level skills and con­sid­er­able levels of cre­ativ­ity and crit­ic­al think­ing, res­ult­ing in high­er remuneration. 

This requires tour­ism busi­nesses to devise high­er-qual­ity, high­er-value exper­i­ences and ser­vices that will require know­ledge and cre­ativ­ity to pro­duce and deliver. 

Besides, employ­ee work-life bal­ance, par­tic­u­larly in the hos­pit­al­ity sec­tor, needs to improve. Work-life bal­ance in the hos­pit­al­ity industry falls short of oth­er indus­tries. And the lower salar­ies make things worse. 

Moreover, tour­ism and hos­pit­al­ity is a highly volat­ile industry on the ‘front lines’ of soci­ety’s inter­ac­tions with the wider world. As such it is vul­ner­able to dis­ease, nat­ur­al calam­it­ies, and viol­ence (wheth­er from ter­ror­ism, socio-polit­ic­al unrest, or ran­dom acts) that often leads to job losses. 

There­fore, pro­du­cing high-qual­ity jobs that offer oppor­tun­it­ies for cre­ativ­ity and self-actu­al­isa­tion, high­er remu­ner­a­tion, and bet­ter work-life bal­ance is cru­cial to allure and retain a tal­en­ted workforce. 

The ‘great resignation’ from tourism & hospitality jobs

K michael haywood , professor emeritus,  university of guelph , canada.

Cli­mate crises, without a doubt. Infla­tion­ary pres­sures and the emer­gence of eco­nom­ic woes, well of course. 

But, what hap­pens when most oper­at­ors through­out the world remain unable to attract or keep employees? 

• Their abil­ity to remain solvent in the imme­di­ate term becomes severely compromised. 
• Their inab­il­ity to avoid a deteri­or­a­tion in the qual­ity of des­tin­a­tion exper­i­ences threatens integ­rit­ies and identities. 

The ‘great resig­na­tion’ may bewilder, but when employ­ees feel ali­en­ated and dis­en­fran­chised from their jobs, the effects rever­ber­ate and cas­cade through­out communities.

Rec­ti­fic­a­tion begins by dig­ging to under­stand the ori­gins of peoples’ dis­con­tent that is pro­pelling nation­al­ist­ic fer­vor, pop­u­list rhet­or­ic, and intol­er­ance of the ‘oth­er’.

Blame, to a great extent, can be lev­elled at the adversit­ies caused by the fin­an­cial­isa­tion of eco­nom­ies and mar­kets which exerts sig­ni­fic­ant influ­ence over both eco­nom­ic policy and cor­por­ate beha­viour. What bevaviour?

• Beha­viour that con­tin­ues to pri­or­it­ise short-term gains through demands to main­tain a lim­ited ver­sion of share­hold­er value . 
• Beha­viour that down­plays desires to cre­ate func­tion­al, emo­tion­al, social, and life affirm­ing value for key stake­hold­ers — employ­ees, vis­it­ors, and cit­izens — includ­ing deliv­ery on ESG require­ments .  
• Beha­viour that fosters tox­ic organ­isa­tion­al cul­tures, a diminu­tion of trust, dis­in­terest in the eth­ics of care , and a sur­feit of con­trac­tu­al rela­tion­ships that ignore cov­en­antal rela­tion­ships with employees. 

For aeons, tour­ist­ic ser­vice work has had an image problem. 

It’s not that the industry isn’t favoured for its job-cre­at­ing poten­ti­al­ity, but that the mater­i­al bene­fits earned from employ­ment are expec­ted to act as prox­ies for (what few con­sider to be) pur­pose­ful and mean­ing­ful work.

Pur­su­ing and pro­mot­ing the concept of ‘ com­munity shared value ’ as the eth­os of ‘good tour­ism’ may help. But, shared value will remain a non-starter until the ‘great resig­na­tion’ is annulled through the bene­vol­ent actions of cov­en­antal lead­ers .

Climate change & climate action

Edwin magio , teaching & research assistant,  moi university , kenya; commonwealth scholar,  leeds beckett university , uk.

A for­ay into the exist­ing lit­er­at­ure shows that tour­ism faces a num­ber of challenges. 

These include, but are not lim­ited to, cli­mate change, over­tour­ism, COVID-19, poach­ing, wild­life loss, safety, and security. 

Argu­ably, the biggest chal­lenge that has become appar­ent in most des­tin­a­tions is cli­mate change. 

Cli­mate change is a major threat to tourism. 

Its impacts — such as erosion, storms, sea level rise, extreme tem­per­at­ures, dis­rup­tion of hab­it­ats, and dam­age to infra­struc­ture — are already being felt in many destinations. 

For example, changes in tem­per­at­ure and rain­fall in the Maa­sai Mara Nation­al Reserve in Kenya are lead­ing to a decrease in wild­life and vegetation.

Now is the time to act.

There is no stable future for the tour­ism industry if the cli­mate crisis and all its dis­rupt­ive con­sequences are not addressed. 

So, if we want to cre­ate more pros­per­ous and sus­tain­able tour­ism, we can­not ignore it.

Organ­isa­tions, des­tin­a­tions, and the whole industry must devel­op meas­ures to reduce green­house gas emis­sions to deal with cli­mate change for the bene­fit of our com­munit­ies and planet. 

There are already numer­ous reports, reg­u­la­tions, policies, legis­la­tion, recom­mend­a­tions, cam­paigns, and case stud­ies on best prac­tices for com­pan­ies and com­munit­ies to achieve the goals of the Par­is agreement. 

How­ever, all of this must be implemented. 

There may not be a bet­ter time to act than now.

‘The climate catastrophe’

Wolfgang georg arlt , ceo,  meaningful tourism center , germany.

There can only be one answer: The cli­mate catastrophe. 

Many play­ers in the industry still dream of going back to the ‘good old times’ before the pan­dem­ic, when actu­ally they were already char­ac­ter­ised by dis­cus­sions about over­tour­ism and unne­ces­sary pollution. 

The cli­mate cata­strophe is chan­ging the para­met­ers for most des­tin­a­tions and ser­vice pro­viders. For example:

• Many beaches and city centres will become too hot, 
• Rivers will become unnav­ig­able for cruises dur­ing their high sum­mer sea­sons due to lack of water, and
• Ski resorts will face rising pro­duc­tion costs and grow­ing res­ist­ance to arti­fi­cial snow … 

… not in 2050, but with­in the next five years. 

The rising cost of mit­ig­at­ing the eco­nom­ic effects of cli­mate change will fur­ther­more res­ult in a decrease in glob­al con­sumer spend­ing power.

A key strategy of the Mean­ing­ful Tour­ism Cen­ter, besides provid­ing train­ing and con­sulta­tion ser­vices, is the estab­lish­ment of a Mean­ing­ful Tour­ism Index. 

The Index will use a six­fold bot­tom line; meas­ur­ing tour­ism by includ­ing all six major des­tin­a­tion stake­hold­ers: Vis­it­ors, the host com­munity, employ­ees, com­pan­ies, gov­ern­ments, and the environment. 

The Index is a major tool for des­tin­a­tions and com­pan­ies to under­stand their pos­i­tion and to identi­fy their strengths and weaknesses. 

Dur­ing the pan­dem­ic, every­body agreed that simply meas­ur­ing arrivals or overnights is not enough; that key per­form­ance indic­at­ors (KPIs) have to be developed that meas­ure the sus­tain­ab­il­ity of tour­ism and its costs and bene­fits for all stakeholders. 

Unfor­tu­nately, this has been all but for­got­ten. The UNWTO, for example, is meas­ur­ing tour­is­m’s post-COV­ID recov­ery by using only arrivals figures.

Transportation & energy

Jim butcher , reader,  canterbury christ church university , uk.

The biggest chal­lenge facing tour­ism is not really about tour­ism. It is the need for sus­tained high levels of invest­ment in infra­struc­ture and technology. 

This will involve gov­ern­ments provid­ing the con­di­tions for indi­vidu­als and busi­nesses to thrive: mod­ern air­ports, pub­lic trans­port sys­tems, bet­ter roads, and afford­able and reli­able energy. 

Enhanced mobil­ity bene­fits tour­ism and improves lives and eco­nom­ic pro­ductiv­ity. And invest­ment in pub­lic trans­port makes cit­ies live­able, ‘vis­it­able’, and attract­ive for investment. 

Yet the trans­port infra­struc­ture in many places is crumbling. 

Energy infra­struc­ture is also key. 

Rather than ‘net zero’ per se , our emphas­is should be on the pro­vi­sion of cheap­er, lower-emis­sion, and low-pol­lu­tion energy for all; to fuel devel­op­ment, espe­cially in poorer countries. 

We — the tour­ism industry included — cur­rently find ourselves held back by the fail­ure to invest in nuc­le­ar and renew­ables over decades. 

To address this chal­lenge we need demo­crat­ic, inter­ven­tion­ist states able to provide the invest­ment and future ori­ent­a­tion that indi­vidu­al firms on their own can’t. 

We also need to chal­lenge the declin­ism that tends to cari­ca­ture devel­op­ment as an envir­on­ment­al threat or cul­tur­al imposition.

In the uni­ver­sit­ies we’ve had the ‘cul­tur­al turn’, ‘mor­al turn’, and ‘loc­al turn’. I pro­pose a ‘future turn’; an ori­ent­a­tion towards what could be rather than what is . 

That sounds uto­pi­an, but I’d argue there is a dis­junc­ture between the great tech­no­lo­gic­al and social poten­tial for human advance­ment through sus­tained invest­ment, and the pess­im­ist­ic and inward-look­ing emphas­is all too often apparent. 

We have the poten­tial for new energy and mobil­ity revolu­tions. We have the pro­spect of hydro­gen- and bat­tery-powered air­craft, cheap light tram net­works, new-gen­er­a­tion nuc­le­ar, more effi­cient renew­ables, and improved bat­tery capacity. 

It is import­ant for tour­ism, and much else, that high­er and sus­tained invest­ment in tech­no­logy and infra­struc­ture is prioritised. 

Tourism is ‘highly sensitive to climate change’

Cato holterman, intern, khiri travel , thailand.

Tour­ism is an eco­nom­ic sec­tor that is highly sens­it­ive to cli­mate change. Where I am now based, in South­east Asia, cli­mate change will be the biggest threat and chal­lenge to the tour­ism industry over the next five years. 

Nat­ur­al dis­asters caused by cli­mate change, such as heat waves, floods, storms, and hur­ricanes, are increas­ing, which leads to a decrease in the allure of a des­tin­a­tion. Tour­ists may choose oth­er hol­i­day des­tin­a­tions that are not yet as sig­ni­fic­antly affected. 

The cli­mate change phe­nomen­on can­not eas­ily be con­trolled, but we can adopt adapt­a­tion and mit­ig­a­tion strategies to main­tain long-term tour­ism activity.

Tour­ism des­tin­a­tions exposed to extreme weath­er and nat­ur­al dis­asters have to be able to with­stand impacts on infra­struc­ture and dis­rup­tions to com­mer­cial activ­ity. Fur­ther­more they will require emer­gency pre­pared­ness meas­ures to ensure vis­it­ors and hosts remain safe. 

Inev­it­ably, adapt­a­tion, pre­pared­ness, main­ten­ance, and insur­ance costs will increase, which will reduce the prof­it­ab­il­ity and viab­il­ity of those destinations.

Tour­ism, on the oth­er hand, is not only a vic­tim. Tour­ism activ­it­ies also emit green­house gases, which is one of the causes of glob­al warming.

Strategies that tour­ism com­pan­ies and des­tin­a­tions can employ to mit­ig­ate their impact involve redu­cing their energy and fuel use, includ­ing chan­ging their modes of transportation. 

As a com­pany, Khiri Travel offers ‘slow travel’ tours; itin­er­ar­ies that are a min­im­um of 15 days that trans­port guests by boat, train, or car. Fur­ther­more, the accom­mod­a­tion we provide our guests is selec­ted based on social, cul­tur­al, and envir­on­ment­al factors. 

Khiri’s guests stay longer in one place to exper­i­ence more. At the same time they reduce the car­bon foot­print of their travels.

Reinventing tourism for ‘ecological integrity’ in Indonesia

Yesaya sandang , lecturer, universitas kristen satya wacana , indonesia.

In my view, in the next five years, tour­ism in Indone­sia will have to rein­vent itself for the sake of eco­lo­gic­al integrity. 

Through­out years of enga­ging with tour­ism stake­hold­ers and research­ing the nex­us of tour­ism and human rights, I have real­ised that the sense of crisis is yet to be intensified. 

Des­pite all the par­lance of sus­tain­able tour­ism devel­op­ment used by gov­ern­ment and industry, I have found that exist­ing reg­u­la­tions and prac­tice in the field dis­play the gap between talk­ing about sus­tain­able tour­ism and doing sus­tain­able tourism. 

This cor­res­ponds with evid­ence from des­tin­a­tions such as Bali, Labuan Bajo, Malang, and Yogyakarta, where unchecked tour­ism infra­struc­ture devel­op­ment comes at the expense of loc­al com­munit­ies’ access to water, and oth­er envir­on­ment­al problems. 

At the same time, stud­ies have shown that the increase in Indonesia’s domest­ic and for­eign tour­ism has raised con­cerns about income inequal­ity and live­li­hood sus­tain­ab­il­ity for loc­al people. 

A high level of reg­u­la­tion, as well as industry self-reg­u­la­tion, are essen­tial strategies to mit­ig­ate envir­on­ment­al and social costs. 

An assess­ment of the exist­ing con­di­tions and the broad­er impact on the envir­on­ment should be a leg­al require­ment pri­or to tour­ism devel­op­ment; and for tour­ism activ­it­ies at every des­tin­a­tion to be strictly mon­itored and controlled. 

In addi­tion, it is cru­cial to put the com­munity at the heart of des­tin­a­tion man­age­ment. As rights-hold­ers and envir­on­ment­al stew­ards, the vis­cer­al attach­ment loc­al com­munit­ies have to their envir­on­ment can be a driv­ing force to chal­lenge and alter the course of unchecked tour­ism development.

Slower growth, new markets for Rwanda

Peace mutoni, intern, red rocks initiative for sustainable development , rwanda.

As Rwanda went into lock­down, and inter­na­tion­al flights were groun­ded to stop the spread of the deadly coronavir­us, the tour­ism sec­tor became one of the hard­est-hit sectors. 

Tour oper­at­ors, hotel own­ers, and sup­pli­ers of food, trans­port, and souven­irs all exper­i­enced sig­ni­fic­ant losses. 

Due to the impact of COVID-19 on the sec­tor, over the next five years, tour­ism rev­en­ues will be below pre­vi­ously pro­jec­ted levels, and job growth will be slower, oppor­tun­it­ies fewer.

Fur­ther­more, Rwanda tour­ism will be mar­keted in the East Afric­an Com­munity (EAC) [com­pris­ing Bur­undi, Demo­crat­ic Repub­lic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tan­zania, and Uganda] and will be added onto oth­er itin­er­ar­ies with good tour­ism turnover, such as Kenya and Tanzania. 

What we plan to do at Red Rocks is to equip our staff with the skills to improve their capa­city, motiv­ate them, and give them access to prac­tic­al tools to help them apply their skills.

Poor governance in African tourism development

Shamiso nyajeka , lecturer, university of zimbabwe , zimbabwe.

While gov­ernance has become a buzzword in the cur­rent sus­tain­ab­il­ity dis­course, it is prob­ably one of Africa’s long-stand­ing challenges. 

Poor gov­ernance has hampered our pro­gress on mul­tiple fronts and tour­ism has not been spared. 

As coun­tries emerge from the dev­ast­at­ing impacts of the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, tour­ism has been iden­ti­fied as a poten­tial driver of eco­nom­ic recovery. 

With the fast-approach­ing 2030 dead­lines for achiev­ing (i) the uni­ver­sal agenda of the sus­tain­able devel­op­ment goals (SDGs) and (ii) the UNWTO Agenda for Africa 2030 —  tour­ism for inclus­ive growth  — the next five years are cru­cial in restor­ing the gains that were reversed by the pandemic. 

Africa’s poten­tial to attract tour­ists can hardly be doubted giv­en the continent’s abund­ant tour­ism resources. 

Attain­ing sus­tain­ab­il­ity, inclus­ive growth, and resi­li­ence, on the oth­er hand, is no mean feat, espe­cially in the absence of good gov­ernance. Reach­ing these mile­stones largely depends on how des­tin­a­tions and their resources are governed. 

Incon­sist­ent policies, cor­rup­tion, lack of trans­par­ency, polit­ic­al power struggles, and exclu­sion of loc­al com­munit­ies are crit­ic­al threats to tour­ism devel­op­ment in Africa. Without sig­ni­fic­ant improve­ments in gov­ernance, tourism’s envis­aged role in steer­ing the continent’s devel­op­ment will remain a fantasy. 

Look­ing ahead to the next five years, our gov­ern­ments need to ser­i­ously con­sider get­ting back to the basics as far as gov­ernance is con­cerned. We must adopt home-grown solu­tions that have suc­cess­fully sus­tained our tra­di­tion­al soci­et­ies for centuries. 

For us, the Bantu people (mostly occupy­ing south­ern and east­ern Africa), Ubuntu provides an ideal found­a­tion for build­ing good governance. 

Embra­cing the philosophy’s prin­ciples, such as respect, fair­ness, empathy, com­munity, and self­less­ness, can help to restore essen­tial val­ues for pre­serving our humane­ness and repos­i­tion­ing the region on a more sus­tain­able tra­ject­ory of tour­ism development.

COVID, war, inflation … What now for the Black Sea region?

Richard a shepard , trustee & ceo,  sustainable rural development international , uk.

There is no single chal­lenge, but cli­mate change tops the list because it impacts everything else, includ­ing health. 

Although the effects of COVID have declined, the 2022 travel recov­ery remained below pre-COV­ID levels and elev­ated health as a chal­lenge for the sector. 

The Rus­si­an inva­sion of Ukraine severely impacted our own Black Sea travel pro­gram, but it also has a world­wide effect; polit­ic­al instabil­ity, infla­tion, and an eco­nom­ic slowdown. 

Rising energy and fuel prices and infla­tion con­trib­ute to high­er travel prices and each are sig­ni­fic­ant challenges. 

I sug­gest it is nearly impossible to identi­fy chal­lenges bey­ond 2024 if for no oth­er reas­on than we are bad at identi­fy­ing them one year in advance. 

For us, try­ing to think bey­ond 2023 and estab­lish clear plans is dif­fi­cult, at best. 

So, what are our plans? 

Dur­ing the off-sea­son we, togeth­er with our part­ners, will cre­ate more in-depth, exten­ded exper­i­ences groun­ded in our com­mit­ment to sustainability. 

To pre­pare for unfore­seen crises we will cre­ate a robust risk man­age­ment pro­cess to reduce uncer­tain­ties of actions, cat­egor­ising risks — nat­ur­al dis­asters, polit­ic­al issues, ter­ror­ism, health and eco­nom­ic crises — to inform busi­ness planning. 

Coupled with con­tin­ued com­mit­ment to the UN SDGs, we feel that sec­tor threats can be sig­ni­fic­antly mitigated.

Finally, our over­all object­ive is to address the needs of our cus­tom­ers — trav­el­lers and com­munity stake­hold­ers — with an emphas­is on cre­ativ­ity, such as tak­ing vis­it­ors on the trip before they ever get there with more visu­al con­tent to help cap­ture attention.

We will dif­fer­en­ti­ate our form of sus­tain­able tour­ism, explain­ing the bene­fits for our com­munity part­ners to travellers. 

Prac­tic­ally, our book­ing sys­tem pro­cess will be more flexible. 

By keep­ing the interests of both cus­tom­er groups at the fore­front, we hope 2023 will see improve­ments in the qual­ity of the offer and the traveller.

Social and economic stability in Niger

Issoufou adamou hassane , co-founder & president, tourism & local development (told) niger.

The major chal­lenge for tour­ism in Niger over the next five years is the return of secur­ity to the coun­try’s tour­ist destinations.

The main cause of the deteri­or­a­tion of the secur­ity situ­ation in Niger stems from the lack of employ­ment oppor­tun­it­ies for women and young people, espe­cially those liv­ing in rur­al areas.

The lack of jobs has made young people easy prey for crim­in­al organ­isa­tions, which rely on them to com­mit the most despic­able acts that tar­nish the image of the coun­try among inter­na­tion­al tour­ist customers.

To meet this chal­lenge, the NGO TOLD intends to imple­ment ini­ti­at­ives to cre­ate jobs and con­trib­ute to social and eco­nom­ic sta­bil­ity in the country’s tour­ist destinations.

Our actions will focus on train­ing loc­al people on the pre­ser­va­tion and enhance­ment of Niger­’s nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­it­age, the devel­op­ment of com­munity cul­tur­al events, the eco­nom­ic empower­ment of women in tour­ism, the cre­ation of her­it­age clubs in schools, and the devel­op­ment of youth entre­pren­eur­ship in tour­ism and heritage.

Our vis­ion is to ensure that people are bet­ter edu­cated about their her­it­age in order to act pos­it­ively for its pre­ser­va­tion and promotion. 

Such an approach will cre­ate jobs and wealth for the com­munit­ies, pro­mote the return of secur­ity, and con­trib­ute to the reviv­al of sus­tain­able tour­ism in Niger.

Success is a threat to Khao Sok, Thailand

Travis clark, general manager, anurak community lodge , thailand.

The greatest threat is not if tour­ism will return to pre-COV­ID levels but rather if/when it will des­troy what makes places like Khao Sok, Thai­l­and so special. 

Khao Sok boasts one of the old­est and most scen­ic nation­al parks in Thai­l­and; beauty to escape to.

Big cor­por­a­tions have always had Khao Sok in their sights but have held off due to a lack of infra­struc­ture in the area. Giv­en the cur­rent state of tour­ism there is a real con­cern that they may enter the region regardless.

While lar­ger busi­nesses increase tour­ism, which seems like a net pos­it­ive, how­ever real estate devel­op­ment, high­ways, and retail out­lets tend to come with them. 

Each new devel­op­ment encroaches on the nat­ur­al envir­on­ment and the com­munity atmo­sphere that make Khao Sok desirable.

In the 1970s, Patong in Phuket was a trop­ic­al beach para­dise. Fifty years later it is laden with hotels, bars, res­taur­ants, shops, stalls … The beach is an afterthought.

Khao Sok has man­aged to con­tain tour­ism to a hand­ful of small busi­nesses with roots in the des­tin­a­tion. Wheth­er Khao Sok is destined to fall into a pit of ‘suc­cess’ only time will tell.

To com­bat over­de­vel­op­ment, hotels like ours are cooper­at­ing to spread aware­ness of how to oper­ate sustainably.

Here at Anurak Lodge we work with glob­al organ­isa­tions like Travel Life to ensure that we meet min­im­um stand­ards, as well as with loc­al author­it­ies and part­ners on devel­op­ing a green zone and set­ting build­ing standards. 

We also pur­sue our own pro­jects. For Rain­forest Rising, for example, we replace invas­ive plants with indi­gen­ous flora.

Over­all, tour­ism is good. It provides jobs and income for people. And we wel­come growth and expan­sion if it is done sustainably.

The people and envir­on­ment that attract tour­ists to Khao Sok need to be looked after. That respons­ib­il­ity starts with us.

‘Crossing the chasm’: Mainstreaming sustainability in tourism

Jonathon day , associate professor | graduate program director,  white lodging — j.w. marriott, jr. school of hospitality and tourism management.

For an idea that has been around for over 50 years, and is appeal­ing to poli­cy­makers, aca­dem­ics, and even busi­nesspeople, sus­tain­ab­il­ity still has a long way to go to become stand­ard oper­at­ing procedure. 

The chal­lenge of main­stream­ing sus­tain­ab­il­ity in tour­ism must be the pri­or­ity today; and for the imme­di­ate future. 

Research­ers in the dif­fu­sion of tech­no­lo­gies, policies, and busi­ness activ­it­ies call this “cross­ing the chasm”. This term refers to the great leap required for an idea or tech­no­logy to move bey­ond ‘earli­er adop­ters’ and be embraced by the majority. 

Even as we acknow­ledge there is still work to be done at every level of tour­ism — by des­tin­a­tions, by busi­nesses and enter­prises, and by trav­el­lers — I remain optim­ist­ic that we are fur­ther ahead on the jour­ney than it first appears. A couple of reasons: 

• Tour­ism is a com­plex sys­tem, and fre­quently mem­bers of the sys­tem are unaware of pro­gress being made by oth­er sys­tem mem­bers. As a res­ult, there is a sense that any­one doing the work of sus­tain­ab­il­ity is an out­lier, for­ging a path that oth­ers have yet to fol­low. The evid­ence is mount­ing that this is no longer true. 
• Sus­tain­ab­il­ity requires more than com­plet­ing a single task, but atten­tion to a port­fo­lio of activ­it­ies. Some of those activ­it­ies are more typ­ic­ally prac­tised than oth­ers, but the truth is that sus­tain­ab­il­ity prac­tices are more com­mon than they are giv­en cred­it for.

One way we help “cross the chasm” is to show that social and envir­on­ment­al sus­tain­ab­il­ity actions are not niche activ­it­ies but com­mon across the sector. 

Fail­ing to adopt sus­tain­ab­il­ity means that you are the out­lier, not the majority. 

What do you think?  Share your own thoughts in a com­ment below. Or  write a deep­er “GT” Insight .  The “Good Tour­ism” Blog  wel­comes diversity of opin­ion and per­spect­ive about travel & tour­ism, because travel & tour­ism is everyone’s business.

Fea­tured image  (top of post): Tour­is­m’s chal­lenges and threats. Cobra image by P Schrein­er (CC0) via Pixabay .

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Five big challenges facing the travel and tourism industry in 2024

Will Chinese tourists look inwards or finally outwards in 2024? Could an unprecedented number of elections globally influence who travels and when? Can Paris make a permanent gain out of the Olympics and will conflict continue to derail some tourism economies?

Amid it all, could Gen Z change the shape of tourism by asserting an environmentally consciousness about travel decisions?As investors and developers piece together the global influences that will shape the hospitality real estate market in 2024, we pick out five defining macro-themes for the year ahead.

Visas: China looks outward and inward

It is nearly a year since China fully reopened its borders to foreign visitors, and almost a year since Beijing withdrew advice warning against overseas travel. Yet travel to and from China has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, though domestic travel has surged.

“If you use 2019 as a benchmark, travel and tourism contributed 11.6% to the Chinese economy,” says Julia Simpson, president and chief executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).In that year, the travel and tourism industry employed 82 million people in China and was valued at $1.8 trillion, while recent analysis released by WTTC and Oxford Economics shows a dip to a 7.9% contribution in 2023, employing about 74 million people and worth $1.48 trillion.

Yet, with the hold-up of issuing new visas an ongoing issue, inward traffic is becoming a major factor."This data clearly shows the appetite to travel remains incredibly strong. Chinese travellers want to explore the world once again and international travellers are eager to return,” says Simpson.

According to data published in January by travel booking site Trip.com, the top five international destinations for Chinese tourists in 2023 were: Thailand; Japan; South Korea; Singapore and Malaysia.China recently entered into a reciprocal agreement with Thailand for permanent waiver of visa requirements for citizens of the two countries from March 2024 and previously implemented visa-free travel for five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain) and Malaysia, allowing ordinary passport holders to stay in China for up to 15 days without a visa. China has also streamlined entry regulations for US citizens.

Impact: The great Chinese exodus is yet to materialise and it may be a year when inward and inter-continental travel continues to dominate, boosting the Chinese travel economy.

Elections: The year of the vote

More than two billion people across 50 countries are expected to go the polls this year, accounting for countries that are home to nearly half the world’s population – a scale that has never happened in a single year before.

Among the polls are seven out of the world’s 10 most populous nations: Bangladesh kicked off the election calendar on January 7; plus India, the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and Mexico.

While the impact should be contained around the election period, data on previous US elections suggest that the industry can expect a lag around crucial polling.US-based travel agency consortium Virtuoso, which has around 2,300 company partners, sold $30 billion worth of transactions in 2019. Evaluating the impact of the last three American presidential elections on travel bookings, Virtuoso’s VP global public relations Misty Belles found that the company’s usual double-digit growth was curtailed to roughly 3% in election years, with over $4 billion in projected missed revenue for the previous election in 2020.

No matter why travel dips during election cycles, the impact doesn’t end on results day, she says. Lags in spending continue through the ‘lame duck’ period of the outgoing President and the early days of a new administration, regardless of who resides in the White House. After the first 100 days of a new presidential term, travellers typically set their sights on summer vacations.

Impact: With an unprecedented number of people heading to the polls and the likelihood of some tight elections, the effect on travel is unpredictable but could cause an autumn lag in the UK and US.

Sports events: Everything to play for

This summer’s football Euros and impending African Cup of Nations will add to the global sports calendar in 2024 but of course the big one is the Paris Olympics. Hosting major events is expensive but potentially hugely profitable, with an extra three million people expected in Paris, increasing tourism spending by up to €4 billion according to market research provider Euromonitor International. 

Alexander Göransson, senior consultant at Euromonitor International, points out that the Games are expected to attract 15 million spectators, including locals and domestic day trippers.  

Göransson says that experience from previous Games shows that Olympic visitors spend more than regular visitors and that accommodation providers will be the main winners, although high prices may put people off. “There is a lot being written about hoteliers significantly hiking their prices during the Paris Olympics, typically by an order of three relative to August 2023 and summer 2024 before and after the games. This is also in line with some checks on booking platforms for like-for-like hotels. The average rate is currently reported to be €699 during the games versus €169 in August 2023,” Göransson says.

However, he notes that only 1.5 million tickets have been sold to non-French residents, circa 10% of the total.

“In the context of hotels this will be interesting as given the vast majority of visitors will be from France, there will be more daytrips, but more importantly a lot of French visitors will have friends and relatives in Paris who they can stay with, which given the Olympic mark-ups is likely,” he adds. “I would not rule out that there may be some last-minute price cutting. When the games were in London price increases were more modest, where prices less than doubled.”

Impact: Euromonitor International expects a steady increase in inbound visitors to France and its capital city from 2025. 

Conflict: Contained but major regional impacts

The war in Ukraine and the ongoing operations in Gaza by Israel have had little impact on global travel, but have hit the regions and those around them heavily. That is likely to be the ongoing story of 2024.

Following last summer’s strong tourism demand, international tourist arrivals to Europe are only 3.2% below 2019 levels, and nights are down by 1.3% for the January-September period, according to the most recent European Travel Commission (ETC) figures.

However, while Southern European and Mediterranean destinations, notably Serbia (+15%), Montenegro (+14%), Portugal (+11%), Turkey (+8%), Malta, and Greece (both +7%) have benefitted, among Eastern European countries neighbouring Russia and Ukraine, and those that are normally reliant on Russian travellers, have registered the sharpest declines: Estonia (-27%), Latvia (-30%), and Lithuania (-33%).While the number of tourists visiting Israel rose in 2023 compared with 2022, visitor numbers plunged in October after the Hamas attacks and remained low for the rest of the year, the Israeli Tourism Ministry said.

Overall in 2023, 3 million tourists entered Israel, up from 2.7 million in 2022, but December was the worst month with just 52,800 tourists, compared with typically over 300,000 per month. S&P Global Ratings believes Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan are most exposed, due to their geographic proximity and the potential for some aspects of the conflict to expand across their borders. Last year, tourism contributed 26% of Lebanon's current account receipts. For Jordan and Egypt, the figure was 21% and 12%, and for Israel, 3%.

Impact: While conflicts seem not to have dissuaded travellers generally, those countries heavily impacted already are unlikely to see any change.

Sustainability: Travellers demand eco-options

Nothing new in the rise of sustainability but analyst Mintel believes that in 2024 travel brands can tap into the sustainable accommodation sector by promoting a range of differing cost options.

A number of operators are promoting more sustainable choices for consumers, by unveiling ‘sustainable holiday’ tabs in which travellers can browse through a range of different hotel options, all accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). 

Mintel says that it is imperative for travel brands to step up and take accountability for their environmental impact, particularly as issues surrounding sustainability permeate into every aspect of daily lives.

“Based on the success of the food industry’s nutrition traffic light system, consumers want brands to use a similar system that makes it easy to understand the environmental impact of the products they’re thinking of buying and helps them make more sustainable choices,” says Richard Cope, senior trends consultant, Mintel Consulting.

Travel platform Booking.com also notes that “sweltering conditions” are accelerating a rise in travellers chasing cooler climes to travel to. In a UK survey, 42% reported that climate change will impact the way they plan their holiday in 2024, while 43% said that as temperatures soar close to home, they will use their holiday to cool down elsewhere.

In 2024, in exchange for contributing to conservation efforts, sustainable itineraries will give travellers exclusive access to the places that they are helping preserve, Booking.com speculates, while sustainable travel apps will offer rewards such as experiences with locals in off-the-beaten-path areas or visiting remote locations that tourists otherwise have limited access to.

Impact: From ESG and real estate to the consumer mind-set, sustainability

Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Global tourism industry - statistics & facts

What are the leading global tourism destinations, digitalization of the global tourism industry, how important is sustainable tourism, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP worldwide 2019-2033

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 1950-2023

Global leisure travel spend 2019-2022

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Current statistics on this topic.

Leading global travel markets by travel and tourism contribution to GDP 2019-2022

Travel and tourism employment worldwide 2019-2033

Related topics

Recommended.

• Hotel industry worldwide
• Travel agency industry
• Sustainable tourism worldwide
• Travel and tourism in the U.S.
• Travel and tourism in Europe

Recommended statistics

• Basic Statistic Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP worldwide 2019-2033
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism: share of global GDP 2019-2033
• Basic Statistic Leading global travel markets by travel and tourism contribution to GDP 2019-2022
• Basic Statistic Global leisure travel spend 2019-2022
• Premium Statistic Global business travel spending 2001-2022
• Premium Statistic Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 1950-2023
• Basic Statistic Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 2005-2023, by region
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism employment worldwide 2019-2033

Total contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product (GDP) worldwide in 2019 and 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2033 (in trillion U.S. dollars)

Travel and tourism: share of global GDP 2019-2033

Share of travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP worldwide in 2019 and 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2033

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in leading travel markets worldwide in 2019 and 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Leisure tourism spending worldwide from 2019 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global business travel spending 2001-2022

Expenditure of business tourists worldwide from 2001 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide from 1950 to 2023 (in millions)

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 2005-2023, by region

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide from 2005 to 2023, by region (in millions)

Number of travel and tourism jobs worldwide from 2019 to 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2033 (in millions)

• Premium Statistic Global hotel and resort industry market size worldwide 2013-2023
• Premium Statistic Most valuable hotel brands worldwide 2023, by brand value
• Basic Statistic Leading hotel companies worldwide 2023, by number of properties
• Premium Statistic Hotel openings worldwide 2021-2024
• Premium Statistic Hotel room openings worldwide 2021-2024
• Premium Statistic Countries with the most hotel construction projects in the pipeline worldwide 2022

Global hotel and resort industry market size worldwide 2013-2023

Market size of the hotel and resort industry worldwide from 2013 to 2022, with a forecast for 2023 (in trillion U.S. dollars)

Most valuable hotel brands worldwide 2023, by brand value

Leading hotel brands based on brand value worldwide in 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Leading hotel companies worldwide 2023, by number of properties

Leading hotel companies worldwide as of June 2023, by number of properties

Hotel openings worldwide 2021-2024

Number of hotels opened worldwide from 2021 to 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2024

Hotel room openings worldwide 2021-2024

Number of hotel rooms opened worldwide from 2021 to 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2024

Countries with the most hotel construction projects in the pipeline worldwide 2022

Countries with the highest number of hotel construction projects in the pipeline worldwide as of Q4 2022

• Premium Statistic Airports with the most international air passenger traffic worldwide 2022
• Premium Statistic Market value of selected airlines worldwide 2023
• Premium Statistic Global passenger rail users forecast 2017-2027
• Premium Statistic Daily ridership of bus rapid transit systems worldwide by region 2023
• Premium Statistic Number of users of car rentals worldwide 2019-2028
• Premium Statistic Number of users in selected countries in the Car Rentals market in 2023
• Premium Statistic Carbon footprint of international tourism transport worldwide 2005-2030, by type

Airports with the most international air passenger traffic worldwide 2022

Leading airports for international air passenger traffic in 2022 (in million international passengers)

Market value of selected airlines worldwide 2023

Market value of selected airlines worldwide as of May 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global passenger rail users forecast 2017-2027

Worldwide number of passenger rail users from 2017 to 2022, with a forecast through 2027 (in billion users)

Daily ridership of bus rapid transit systems worldwide by region 2023

Number of daily passengers using bus rapid transit (BRT) systems as of April 2023, by region

Number of users of car rentals worldwide 2019-2028

Number of users of car rentals worldwide from 2019 to 2028 (in millions)

Number of users in selected countries in the Car Rentals market in 2023

Number of users in selected countries in the Car Rentals market in 2023 (in million)

Carbon footprint of international tourism transport worldwide 2005-2030, by type

Transport-related emissions from international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2005 and 2016, with a forecast for 2030, by mode of transport (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide)

Attractions

• Premium Statistic Market size of museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks worldwide 2022-2027
• Premium Statistic Leading museums by highest attendance worldwide 2019-2022
• Basic Statistic Most visited amusement and theme parks worldwide 2019-2022
• Basic Statistic Monuments on the UNESCO world heritage list 2023, by type
• Basic Statistic Selected countries with the most Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide 2023

Market size of museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks worldwide 2022-2027

Size of the museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks market worldwide in 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2027 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Leading museums by highest attendance worldwide 2019-2022

Most visited museums worldwide from 2019 to 2022 (in millions)

Most visited amusement and theme parks worldwide 2019-2022

Leading amusement and theme parks worldwide from 2019 to 2022, by attendance (in millions)

Monuments on the UNESCO world heritage list 2023, by type

Number of monuments on the UNESCO world heritage list as of September 2023, by type

Selected countries with the most Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide 2023

Number of Michelin-starred restaurants in selected countries and territories worldwide as of July 2023

Online travel market

• Premium Statistic Online travel market size worldwide 2017-2028
• Premium Statistic Estimated desktop vs. mobile revenue of leading OTAs worldwide 2023
• Premium Statistic Number of aggregated downloads of leading online travel agency apps worldwide 2023
• Basic Statistic Market cap of leading online travel companies worldwide 2023
• Premium Statistic Forecast EV/Revenue ratio in the online travel market 2024, by segment
• Premium Statistic Forecast EV/EBITDA ratio in the online travel market 2024, by segment

Online travel market size worldwide 2017-2028

Online travel market size worldwide from 2017 to 2023, with a forecast until 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Estimated desktop vs. mobile revenue of leading OTAs worldwide 2023

Estimated desktop vs. mobile revenue of leading online travel agencies (OTAs) worldwide in 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Number of aggregated downloads of leading online travel agency apps worldwide 2023

Number of aggregated downloads of selected leading online travel agency apps worldwide in 2023 (in millions)

Market cap of leading online travel companies worldwide 2023

Market cap of leading online travel companies worldwide as of September 2023 (in million U.S. dollars)

Forecast EV/Revenue ratio in the online travel market 2024, by segment

Forecast enterprise value to revenue (EV/Revenue) ratio in the online travel market worldwide in 2024, by segment

Forecast EV/EBITDA ratio in the online travel market 2024, by segment

Forecast enterprise value to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio in the online travel market worldwide in 2024, by segment

Selected trends

• Premium Statistic Global travelers who believe in the importance of green travel 2022
• Premium Statistic Sustainable initiatives travelers would adopt worldwide 2022, by region
• Premium Statistic Airbnb revenue worldwide 2017-2023
• Premium Statistic Airbnb nights and experiences booked worldwide 2017-2023
• Premium Statistic Technologies global hotels plan to implement in the next three years 2022
• Premium Statistic Hotel technologies global consumers think would improve their future stay 2022

Global travelers who believe in the importance of green travel 2022

Share of travelers that believe sustainable travel is important worldwide in 2022

Sustainable initiatives travelers would adopt worldwide 2022, by region

Main sustainable initiatives travelers are willing to adopt worldwide in 2022, by region

Airbnb revenue worldwide 2017-2023

Revenue of Airbnb worldwide from 2017 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Airbnb nights and experiences booked worldwide 2017-2023

Nights and experiences booked with Airbnb from 2017 to 2023 (in millions)

Technologies global hotels plan to implement in the next three years 2022

Technologies hotels are most likely to implement in the next three years worldwide as of 2022

Hotel technologies global consumers think would improve their future stay 2022

Must-have hotel technologies to create a more amazing stay in the future among travelers worldwide as of 2022

• Premium Statistic Travel and tourism revenue worldwide 2019-2028, by segment
• Premium Statistic Distribution of sales channels in the travel and tourism market worldwide 2018-2028
• Premium Statistic Inbound tourism visitor growth worldwide 2020-2025, by region
• Premium Statistic Outbound tourism visitor growth worldwide 2020-2025, by region

Travel and tourism revenue worldwide 2019-2028, by segment

Revenue of the global travel and tourism market from 2019 to 2028, by segment (in billion U.S. dollars)

Distribution of sales channels in the travel and tourism market worldwide 2018-2028

Revenue share of sales channels of the travel and tourism market worldwide from 2018 to 2028

Inbound tourism visitor growth worldwide 2020-2025, by region

Inbound tourism visitor growth worldwide from 2020 to 2022, with a forecast until 2025, by region

Outbound tourism visitor growth worldwide 2020-2025, by region

Outbound tourism visitor growth worldwide from 2020 to 2022, with a forecast until 2025, by region

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How global tourism can become more sustainable, inclusive and resilient

A sanitary mask lies on the ground at Frankfurt Airport Image:  Reuters/Ralph Orlowski

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Ahmed Al-Khateeb

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Stay up to date:, travel and tourism.

• Tourism rose to the forefront of the global agenda in 2020, due to the devastating impact of COVID-19
• Recovery will be driven by technology and innovation – specifically seamless travel solutions, but it will be long, uneven and slow
• Success hinges on international coordination and collaboration across the public and private sectors

Tourism was one of the sectors hit hardest by the global pandemic. 2020 was the worst year on record for international travel due to the global pandemic, with countries taking decisive action to protect their citizens, closing borders and halting international travel.

The result was a 74% decline in international visitor arrivals, equivalent to over $1 trillion revenue losses , and an estimated 62 million fewer jobs . The impact on international air travel has been even more severe with a 90% drop on 2019 , resulting in a potential $1.8 trillion loss. And while the economic impact is dire in itself, nearly 2.9 million lives have been lost in the pandemic.

The path to recovery will be long and slow

Countries now face the challenge of reopening borders to resume travel and commerce, while protecting their populations’ health. At its peak, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported in April 2020 that every country on earth had implemented some travel restriction , signalling the magnitude of the operation to restart travel.

Have you read?

Tourism industry experts fear long road to recovery, how we can prioritize sustainability in rebuilding tourism, covid-19 could set the global tourism industry back 20 years.

Consequently, the path to recovery will be long and slow. The resurgence of cases following the discovery of new variants towards the end of last year delivered another disappointing blow to the travel industry. Any pickup over the summer months was quashed following a second wave of lockdowns and border closures . Coupled with mixed progress in the roll-out of vaccination programs, I predict that we will not see a significant rebound in international travel until the middle of this year at best.

Others echo my fears. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts a 50.4% improvement on 2020 air travel demand, which would bring the industry to 50.6% of 2019 levels . However, a more pessimistic outlook based on the persistence of travel restrictions suggests that demand may only pick up by 13% this year, leaving the industry at 38% of 2019 levels. McKinsey & Company similarly predict that tourism expenditure may not return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2024 .

How to enhance sustainability, inclusivity and resilience

Given its economic might – employing 330 million people, contributing 10% to global GDP before the pandemic, and predicted to create 100 million new jobs – restoring the travel and tourism sector to a position of strength is the utmost priority.

The Great Reset provides an opportunity to rethink how tourism is delivered and to enhance sustainability, inclusivity and resilience. We must also address the challenges – from climate change and “ overtourism ” to capacity constraints – that we faced before the pandemic, while embracing traveller preferences, as we rebuild.

A 2018 study found that global tourism accounted for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions from 2009 to 2013 ; four times higher than previous estimates. Even more worryingly, this puts progress towards the Paris Agreement at risk – recovery efforts must centre around environmental sustainability.

Furthermore, according to a study on managing overcrowding, the top 20 most popular global destinations were predicted to add more international arrivals than the rest of the world combined by 2020 . While COVID-19 will have disrupted this trend, it is well known that consumers want to travel again, and we must address the issues associated with overcrowding, especially in nascent destinations, like Saudi Arabia.

The Great Reset is a chance to make sure that as we rebuild, we do it better.

Seamless solutions lie at the heart of travel recovery

Tourism has the potential to be an engine of economic recovery provided we work collaboratively to adopt a common approach to a safe and secure reopening process – and conversations on this are already underway.

Through the G20, which Saudi Arabia hosted in 2020, our discussions focused on how to leverage technology and innovation in response to the crisis, as well as how to restore traveller confidence and improve the passenger experience in the future .

At the global level, across the public and private sectors, the World Economic Forum is working with the Commons Project on the CommonPass framework , which will allow individuals to access lab results and vaccination records, and consent to having that information used to validate their COVID status. IATA is trialling the Travel Pass with airlines and governments , which seeks to be a global and standardized solution to validate and authenticate all country regulations regarding COVID-19 travel requirements.

The provision of solutions that minimize person-to-person contact responds to consumer wants, with IATA finding that 85% of travellers would feel safer with touchless processing . Furthermore, 44% said they would share personal data to enable this, up from 30% months prior , showing a growing trend for contactless travel processes.

Such solutions will be critical in coordinating the opening of international borders in a way that is safe, seamless and secure, while giving tourists the confidence to travel again.

Collaboration at the international level is critical

The availability of vaccines will make this easier, and we have commenced our vaccination programme in Saudi Arabia . But we need to ensure processes and protocols are aligned globally, and that we support countries with limited access to vaccinations to eliminate the threat of another resurgence. It is only when businesses and travellers have confidence in the systems that the sector will flourish again.

In an era of unprecedented data and ubiquitous intelligence, it is essential that organizations reimagine how they manage personal data and digital identities. By empowering individuals and offering them ways to control their own data, user-centric digital identities enable trusted physical and digital interactions – from government services or e-payments to health credentials, safe mobility or employment.

The World Economic Forum curates the Platform for Good Digital Identity to advance global digital identity activities that are collaborative and put the user interest at the center.

The Forum convenes public-private digital identity collaborations from travel, health, financial services in a global action and learning network – to understand common challenges and capture solutions useful to support current and future coalitions. Additionally, industry-specific models such as Known Traveller Digital Identity or decentralized identity models show that digital identity solutions respecting the individual are possible.

The approach taken by Saudi Arabia and its partners to establish consensus and build collaborative relationships internationally and between the public and private sectors, should serve as a model to be replicated so that we can maximize the tourism sector’s contribution to the global economic recovery, while ensuring that it becomes a driver of prosperity and social progress again.

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A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

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