About 7 million new jobs worldwide last year was attributed by the travel and tourism sector, said the latest report of World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)’s annual Economic Impact Research.
Growing 4.6 percent in 2017, the year was a bumper year for the global travel and tourism industry as it moves faster than the global economy as a whole, which was at 3 percent growth during the year. For the seventh consecutive year, the sector has outperformed the global economy and was showing stronger growth than all sectors including manufacturing (4.2 percent), retail and wholesale (3.4 percent), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (2.6 percent) and financial services (2.5 percent).
WTTC President & CEO, Gloria Guevara stated that travel and tourism sector creates new employment opportunities, drives economic growth, and helps build better societies. “Our research shows that our sector was responsible for the creation of one in five of all jobs globally. In the last few years, Governments around the world are realising the extraordinary benefits of tourism and I congratulate them for taking steps to maximise our sector’s potential,” she said.
Throughout 2017, the sector’s direct, indirect and induced impact accounted for: US$8.3 trillion contribution to global GDP (10.4 percent), creation of 313 million jobs or 1 in 10 jobs around the world, US$1.5 trillion exports (6.5 percent of total exports, 28.8 percent of global services exports), as well as US$882 billion investment (4.5 percent of total investment worldwide).
Meanwhile, Asian countries continue to drive global tourism growth with 7.4 percent in North East Asia and 6.7 percent in East Asia. The research noted China on top of the fastest growth at 9.8 percent. Over the next ten years, one third of absolute GDP growth and nearly half employment growth in the region will be generated by China and India.
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The research suggests that 2018 will continue to see the growth, although maybe moving at a slower rate than last year due to higher oil prices. The long-term outlook to 2028 remains unchanged, with average growth of 3.8 percent per year over the next decade.
By 2028, travel and tourism sector is expected to support more than 400 million jobs globally, which equates to 1 in 9 of all jobs in the world. Additionally, the sector is also expected to contribute around 25 percent of global net job creation over the next decade.
Ms Guevara said, “As our sector continues to become more important both as a generator of GDP and jobs, our key challenge will be ensuring this growth is sustainable and inclusive. Going forward we need to ensure that growth is planned for, well managed and includes partnerships between not only the public and private sectors but also includes communities themselves.
There is a huge potential for governments to capitalise on the opportunities Travel & Tourism brings to create new jobs, especially in those economies where many jobs in other sectors are under threat from automation. Travel & Tourism is the best partner for governments to create jobs.”
