Report on World Tourism Economy Trends released in Beijing

The general revenue of the world tourism in 2020 is expected to be 3.6 percent higher than that of last year and the figure for China may be 6.1 percent, said the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF).

The figures were based on a report released Wednesday by the WTCF and the Tourism Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Governments of countries and cities, as well as the tourism industry can seek for advice and supports from the report as the report gave a panoramic analysis in terms of views from global, regional, nationalities and cities, involving issues like the world tourism economy trends, changes of regional developing patterns, outstanding features of heavyweight countries and city's role as a core support.

According to the report, 12.31 billion tourists around the world, including both domestic and inbound tourists, were recorded in 2019, 4.6 percent higher than the year earlier; the general revenue of the world tourism in 2019 was 5.8 trillion U.S. dollars, 6.7 percent of the world's GDP, 0.1 percentage points lower than that of last year; tourism revenue contributed by inbound and domestic tourists grew slower and it is expected to realize a five-consecutive-year growth.

"The rising geopolitical risks and conflicts as well as the conflicts on regional and social issues bring challenges to the growth of the 2020 world tourism. However, thanks to the support by governments and the rigidity of tourism industry, the tourism revenue in 2020 could grow 3.6 percent and the growth of China could reach 6.1 percent," said Li Baochun, deputy secretary general of the WTCF.

The WTCF was established in 2012 in Beijing with 58 founding members. It has now grown into an international tourism body with a total of 218 members, including 145 city members, 73 institutional ones as well as six branches.