ITIC APAC 2025 | The economics of tourism in APAC
Sarah Wang spoke to Marc Banting, Chief Operating Officer at Voyageur Group, about the latest data available on the economic impact of tourism on both a global and regional basis, looking at GDP contribution, employment, and spending
The ITIJ team have been reporting live from ITIC APAC in Hong Kong this week (June 2025) sharing the discussions that took place at the conference. Read all reports
Sarah Wang, Regional Director, Asia, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)
Wang started her presentation by sharing some statistics about the travel and tourism industry, and pointed out that, in 2024, globally there was a rise in all areas. Except for international spending, which is still just 1.3% below 2019 levels, the recovery is nearly complete.
She added that Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia performed well in 2024, with an 8.4% and 9.4% share of the economy respectively.
Wang said the WTTC’s Economic Impact Research – 2025 Forecast (World) predicts GDP contribution of US$11.7 trillion, 371 million sector jobs, international visitor spending of $2.1 trillion, and domestic visitor spending of $5.6 trillion.
When it comes to Asia Pacific, the Economic Impact Research – 2024 for the region shows a GDP contribution of $3.1 trillion, 196 million sector jobs, $530 billion in international visitor spending, and $1.6 trillion in domestic visitor spending.
Wang then focused on these aspects for each country and said international visitor spending in China reached $139 billion, with $815.5 billion in domestic visitor spending. Domestic visitor spending is much higher than international visitor spending, she said – in China it was 85% compared with 15%. She added that Japan has recorded the highest increase in international spending in the region since 2019, while China let in outbound travel to Asia Pacific in 2024 at 58.71 million.
The Economic Impact Research – 2025 Forecast for Asia Pacific predicts growth of GDP contribution of $3.5 trillion, 203 million sector jobs, $607 billion in international visitor spending, and $1.8 trillion in domestic visitor spending.
Wang said that Asia Pacific is predicted to have 52.7 million new travel and tourism jobs by 2035.
She finished by talking about how the sector is changing, and said that technology and innovation are causing the most change. She said digital technologies, financial tech, future mobilities, and breakthrough innovations such as smart cities and quantum computing will all play a role in shaping a new era of travel.