Introduction

The rise of travel and tourism has shown significant resilience globally. Despite slow economic growth in advanced economies and geopolitical tensions in some regions, the T&T sector still accounts for a large part of the global economy (estimated to be approximately 9% of global GDP or US$ 7 trillion) and employment, while the number of international travellers continues to increase. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the T&T sector is forecast to continue growing at 4% annually—faster than financial services, transport and manufacturing.

The theme of year’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report is “Growing through Shocks.” The Report analyzes the performance of 141 economies through the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) and explores how the T&T sector has responded to economic, security and health shocks over recent decades. Understanding the nature and extent of the sector’s resilience to shocks is important, as a strong T&T sector is critical for job creation, economic growth and development in advanced and developing economies alike.

Published every two years, the Report provides a strategic tool for both business and governments: it allows for cross-country comparison of the drivers of T&T competitiveness, for benchmarking countries’ policy progress and for making investment decisions related to business and industry development. It also offers an opportunity for the T&T industry to highlight to national policymakers the challenges to T&T competitiveness that require policy attention, and to generate multi-stakeholder dialogue on formulating appropriate policies and action.