WTCF Releases World Tourism Economy Trends Report (2022)

On March 2, 2022, the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and the Tourism Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (TRC-CASS) jointly released the World Tourism Economy Trends Report (2022) (hereinafter referred to as the Report) in Beijing.

In 2021, the world tourism economic activities showed a significant recovery tendency, driven by the continuous loosening of fiscal and monetary policies in major economies, accelerated global vaccine production and rising vaccination rates. However, the recovery of the world tourism economy is still relatively slow. The total number of global tourist trips and total world tourism revenue are still below 60% of the pre-pandemic levels. Yet, at the same time, people are increasingly aware that the impact of COVID-19 on global tourism has formed certain structural characteristics, and the restart of global tourism will also reshape the development pattern and change the development mode.Making multidimensional strategies as well as improving the quality and efficiency of recovery and development of tourism industry through a more innovative approach have therefore become the most urgent tasks for the entire industry in 2022.

Li Baochun, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of WTCF

To effectively respond to the challenges posed by the pandemic and continuously promote the development of the world tourism economy, WTCF and TRC-CASS have jointly conducted a study on the world tourism economy trends of 2022. Centered on the structural recovery of the world tourism economy, the results released in the Report presents a comprehensive summary and study on the tourism recovery around the world, changes in regional tourism development patterns, tourism development performances of the T20 countries (the top 20 countries in the world in terms of total tourism revenue), and innovative tourism development strategies of key cities, amidst the pandemic. Moreover, it reveals four tendency changes in the structural recovery of world tourism in 2022, inspiring the further development of world tourism, and offering decision-making references and intellectual support to governments, cities and the tourism industry.

According to the Report, a total number of 6.6 billion global tourist trips were made in 2021, and the total world tourism revenue reached USD 3.3 trillion, showing a recovery of 53.7% and 55.9% of the 2019 levels respectively. Total world tourism revenue as a percentage of GDP rebounded to 3.8%, down 3.1% from the pre-pandemic level in 2019. In addition, the T20 countries accounted for 80.2% of the total world tourism revenue in 2021, 11.8% higher than in 2020 and 1.4% higher than in 2019.

The Report predicts that a total of 8.45 billion global tourist trips will be made in 2022, and the total world tourism revenue will amount to USD 4.0 trillion, 68.8% and 67.8% of the pre-pandemic levels in 2019 respectively. Domestic tourism will see stronger recovery than international tourism, and tourism in developed economies will witness a better performance than that in emerging economies.

Song Rui, Director of TRC-CASS and WTCF Expert

Besides, the Report identifies four tendency changes in the structural recovery of global tourism in 2022. First, changes will take place in the recovery pattern. Tourism economic growth will rely less on emerging economies and the Asia-Pacific region, and become more reliant on cities. Second, greater discrepancies will be observed in the process of recovery. Gaps are widening between developed and developing countries, disparities are growing between leading enterprises and SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), and stratification of asset-light and asset-heavy companies is also emerging. Third, industries will witness greater concentration, with the tourism economy thriving in countries with high-level public medical care, and tourism markets booming in domestic and peripheral areas. Fourth, the recovery will be accompanied by technological, cognitive and sustainable transformation. In the context of the environment and new means of communication, markets are rediscovering destinations and attractions, and sustainable tourism has become essential rather than optional as it was in pre-pandemic times.

As vaccination rates keep rising and international travel restrictions are eased around the world, the world tourism industry is pacing continuously and steadily towards its recovery. As the world's first international tourism organization focusing on cities, WTCF will take the initiative to play a leading role, work together with other international organizations to build a multilateral cooperation service platform for world tourism, and contribute to the transformation and prosperity of the world tourism industry.