Travel and tourism to break records, bring over $11 trillion in 2024: report

Travel and tourism is expected to be a boon for the global economy this year.

Countries around the world will see travel and tourism produce $11.1 trillion in 2024, according to a report released Thursday by the World Travel & Tourism Council.

The group said the forecasted global economic contribution would mark an “all-time high” from the roughly $10 trillion the industry brought in pre-pandemic 2019.

The coronavirus hit many industries hard, with travel and tourism in particular seeing negative impacts from the lockdowns and restrictions instituted in the early days of the pandemic.

This year, both international and domestic tourists are expected to splash out during their travels.

The report, which involved a partnership with Oxford Economics, projected a record $5.4 trillion in spending would come from domestic travelers. That would set a record, according to the WTTC.

Meanwhile, international tourists will reportedly contribute $1.89 trillion.

And the WTTC had an even rosier outlook for a decade from now, when it predicted global tourism and travel will be responsible for nearly $16 trillion and 449 million jobs.

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The travel and tourism industry’s performance in 2023 provided momentum for this year, the group said.

In 2023, it produced $9.9 trillion around the world.

“This isn’t just about breaking records, we’re no longer talking about a recovery – this is a story of the sector back at its best after a difficult few years, providing a significant economic boost to countries around the world and supporting millions of jobs,” WTTC CEO Julia Simpson said in a Thursday statement. “There’s a risk however, we need the U.S. and Chinese governments to support their national Travel & Tourism sectors.”

The head of the WTTC warned the U.S. and China could “continue to suffer whilst other countries are seeing international visitors return much faster” if they don’t.

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The group pegged 2023’s U.S. international visitor spending at “more than a quarter below the peak of 2019” and China’s “almost 60% down.”

In August, the WTTC issued a prediction that the U.S. travel and tourism industry would provide $2.2 trillion in 2023. It was responsible for $2 trillion the year prior to that.