Syllabus
GS 3: Economy
Context:
According to a recent report, the global travel and tourism sector added $10.9 trillion to the world economy in 2023.
More on the News
- The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) released the 2024 Economic Impact Trends Report.
- According to the Report, the global travel and tourism sector contributed $10.9 trillion to the world economy in 2023.
- The report shows that the travel and tourism industry is growing steadily. The World Economic Forum (WEF) expects the sector to reach $16 trillion by 2034, making up over 11% of the global GDP.
Key Highlights from the report
- According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the United States remains the world’s largest tourism economy in 2024, contributing a record $2.36 trillion—nearly twice as much as the next country.
- China holds the second position with $1.3 trillion, and is expected to become the global leader in tourism within the next 10 years.
- While traditional leaders like Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain continue to hold strong positions in the top 10 tourism economies, several Asian countries are rapidly emerging as regional tourism powerhouses.
- Notably, Japan has climbed to the fourth position, contributing $297 billion to the global tourism economy.
- Several countries have witnessed a sharp rise in international tourism spending compared to pre-pandemic levels.
- Notable increases include:
Saudi Arabia: +91.3%
Türkiye: +38.2%
Kenya: +33.3%
Colombia: +29.1%
Egypt: +22.9% - This indicates a strong recovery and growing appeal of these destinations for global travellers.
Key findings on India
- India has made significant progress in the global tourism sector, now ranking as the eighth-largest tourism economy with a contribution of $231.6 billion, up from its earlier tenth position.
- This rise reflects India’s growing importance in global tourism, and the WTTC forecasts that India could climb to the fourth position within the next decade.
About Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) 2024
- It is released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), is the second edition of this index.
- It has replaced the earlier Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which WEF had been publishing since 2007.
- As per the WEF’s official website, the TTDI is part of the Forum’s efforts to work with governments and industry to build a travel and tourism sector that is more sustainable, inclusive and resilient, helping both economies and local communities.
- The TTDI is a biennial index, meaning it is released once every two years.
- It measures various factors and policies that help in the sustainable and resilient growth of the Travel & Tourism (T&T) sector, which in turn supports a country’s overall development.
- In the 2024 edition of the TTDI index covered 119 countries.
- The United States ranked 1st, followed by:
Spain
Japan
France
Australia - High-income countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific continue to dominate the top positions in the index.
