He World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) provides that the world tourism sector will continue Beating records In 2025, despite the uncertainty generated by the commercial war unleashed by the administration of the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
On the occasion of the launch of the Economic Impact Report (EIR) prepared in association with Oxford Economics, the president and CEO of the WTTC, Julia Simpson, explained the reasons why he considers that the Current context of economic uncertainty will not radically change the forecasts of the WTTC.
First, the forecast for this year includes Many trips that are already reservedso Simpson believes that 2025 “is quite well defined” and, secondly, “is a very short term horizon at this time.
“They are very uncertain times and none of us know what will happen. Sometimes, some markets go up and then fall again,” according to Simpson, who believes that, “if we begin to see trade agreements between countries and the US. UU., The situation will calm down, but, obviously, that is a great unknown.”
The study points to a Strong growth of the global tourism sector This year, “reaffirming its role as Pilar of the main world economiessince travelers are expected to spend more than ever. “
It is estimated that its expense reaches the historical figure of 2.1 billion dollars in 2025exceeding in 164,000 million the previous maximum of 1.9 billion 2019.
Likewise, the sector is expected to contribute a historical maximum of 11.7 billion dollars to the world economy, which represents 10.3 % of the world GDP and generating 14 million additional jobs, until reaching 371 million, a figure higher than the population of the United States.
In 2024, tourism contributed 10 % of the world economyreaching 10.9 billion dollars, which represents an increase of 8.5 % compared to 2023 and 6 % above the previous maximum of 2019, Simpson recalled.
Founder in the US, China and Germany
However, although the global panorama in the travel and tourism sector is solid, the recovery is still unequalsince while some countries and regions record record figures, other large economies are stagnant.
Between Macao stores, China. Photo Eduardo Leal/BloombergIn several important tourism markets, such as the United States, China and Germany, the growth has slowedSimpson warned.
In the United States, the most powerful market in the world in this sector, the spending of international visitors last year remained significantly below the 2019 levels and a complete recovery is not expected this year.
In Chinaalthough international spending exceeded prepaymia levels in 2024, a marked deceleration of growth in this year is expected.
On the other hand, other key markets such as Saudi Arabiawhich will inject 800,000 million dollars in the sector by 2030, they are at the forefront and mark new milestones, he said.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris, one of the most visited cities in the world. Photo Zakaria Abdelkafi / AFPFor its part, European countries such as France and Spainthe two main destinations in the world in terms of number of visitors, “They continue leading the resurgence of the regiondriven “by intelligent investment and a global attraction.”
The next decade: tourism that will come
By 2035, the sector will be expected to inject 16.5 billion dollars In the global economy, which represents 11.5 % of the world GDP and an annual growth rate of 3.5 % for a decade, exceeding 2.5 % of the economy in general.
It is also expected that One in eight jobs corresponds to the sectorexceeding 460 million, and that international spending reaches 2.9 billion dollars, with an annual growth rate of 3.4 %, and the national, with one of 3.3 %, 7.7 billion.