The World Economic Forum on Tuesday reported that International tourist arrivals and the travel and tourism sector’s contribution to global GDP were expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, driven by the lifting of COVID-19-related travel restrictions and strong pent-up demand.
The latest World Economic Forum travel and tourism study titled ‘Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024 (TTDI)’ indicated that United States, Spain, Japan, France and Australia topped the table of the countries, adding that The Middle East had the highest recovery rates in international tourist arrivals (20% above the 2019 level), while Europe, Africa and the Americas all showed a strong recovery of around 90% in 2023.
The (TTDI), is a biennial report published in collaboration with the University of Surrey, which analyses the travel and tourism sectors of 119 countries around a range of factors and policies.
Commenting on the key findings of the report, Head of the Global Industries team at the World Economic Forum, Francisco Betti, said: “This year marks a turning point for the travel and tourism sector, which we know has the capacity to unlock growth and serve communities through economic and social transformation.
“The TTDI offers a forward-looking window into the current and future state of travel and tourism for leaders to navigate the latest trends in this complex sector and sustainably unlock its potential for communities and countries across the world”, Betti added.
The WEF projected that the global tourism industry was expected to recover from the lows of the COVID-19 pandemic and surpass the levels seen before the crisis, adding that this is largely being driven by a significant increase in demand worldwide, which has coincided with more available flights, better international openness, and increased interest and investment in natural and cultural attractions.
The report indicated, however, that the global recovery had been mixed – While 71 of the 119 ranked economies increased their scores since 2019, the average index score is just 0.7% above pre-pandemic levels.
The WEF further noted that although the sector had moved past the shock of the global health crisis, it continued to deal with other external challenges, from growing macroeconomic, geopolitical and environmental risks, to increased scrutiny of its sustainability practices and the impact of new digital technologies, such as big data and artificial intelligence.
In addition, the Forum noted that labour shortages were ongoing, and air route capacity, capital investment, productivity and other sector supply factors had not kept up with the increase in demand, noting that this imbalance, worsened by global inflation, has increased prices and service issues.
The TTDI 2024 highlights further showed that out of the top 30 index scorers in 2024, 26 were high-income economies, 19 were based in Europe, seven were in Asia-Pacific, three in the Americas and one (the United Arab Emirates) was in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA).
The report reflected that the top 10 countries in the 2024 edition are the United States, Spain, Japan, France, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Italy and Switzerland.
The results further highlighted that high-income economies generally continued to have more favourable conditions for travel and tourism development due to conducive business environments, dynamic labour markets, open travel policies, strong transport and tourism infrastructure, and well-developed natural, cultural and non-leisure attractions.
According to the report findings, nevertheless, developing countries have seen some of the greatest improvements in recent years as among the upper-middle-income economies, China cemented its ranking in the top 10; major emerging travel and tourism destinations of Indonesia, Brazil and Türkiye have joined China in the top quartile of the rankings.
The WEF stated: “More broadly, low- to upper-middle-income economies account for over 70% of countries that have improved their scores since 2019, while MENA and sub-Saharan Africa are among the most improved regions. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the only high-income economies to rank among the top 10 most improved economies between 2019 and 2024.
“Despite these strides, the TTDI warns that significant investment is needed to close gaps in enabling conditions and market share between developing and high-income countries. One possible pathway to help achieve this would be sustainably leveraging natural and cultural assets – which are less correlated with country income level than other factors – and can offer developing economies an opportunity for tourism-led economic development”, it added
In his remarks on the report, Professor and Head of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Surrey, Iis Tussyadiah, said: “It’s essential to bridge the divide between differing economies’ ability to build a strong environment for their travel and tourism sector to thrive.
“The sector has big potential to foster prosperity and mitigate global risks, but that potential can only be fully realized through a strategic and inclusive approach”, the expert added.
