ITIC UK 2023 | World Travel & Tourism Council Keynote Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown, Regional Director, Europe, Middle East & Oceana World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) kicked off the ITIC UK conference by asking, ‘Where next?’
The ITIJ team have been reporting live from ITIC UK 2023 in Bath this week (20 April 2023) sharing the discussions that took place at the conference. Read all reports
Brown asked what the key things are that we need to know for future success. After Covid-19, where are things heading and how much did Covid-19 hit the sector?
Before Covid-19, travel and tourism counted for 10 per cent of the world’s economy. One in every four jobs globally was in travel and tourism. Overnight, half the value of the sector was lost. But, he added, travel is back.
Brown spoke about global international arrivals and said there were one billion fewer trips in 2020 versus 2019. Despite optimistic predictions, 2023 won’t be back to pre-2019 levels. Africa and Asia-Pacific are in the early stages of recovery, but growth in that region will be significant.
He said that for international arrivalsin 2019, Europe had 51 per cent of all arrivals, with Asia-Pacific (24 per cent) and North America (10 per cent) in second and third places, respectively.
Job growth
Brown said that Economic Impact Research shows that travel and tourism’s job growth is forecast to create 126 million new jobs across the next decade, with travel and tourism jobs in Asia-Pacific forecast to grow at 64.8 per cent, Africa at 11.8 per cent, North America at 8.0 per cent, Europe at 6.9 per cent, Latin America at 4.7 per cent, the Middle East at 3.2 per cent, and finally the Caribbean at 0.8 per cent.
He went on to say that, in 2022, Paris, Beijing and Orlando contributed the most gross domestic product (GDP), but in the forecast for 2032, Beijing, Shanghai and Las Vegas were the top predicted cities for GDP. Paris is up US36bn in GDP. The city that has grown most is Doha, largely due to the world cup being held there. It is predicted that London will drop out of the top 10 most visited cities by 2032.
There is a pent-up demand for visas in China (the last market to drop retrictions). Brown went on to say that for every $100 spent in global travel, $15 was from a Chinese traveller. Which, he added, is very significant.
The Indian market will surge at an average rate of 15 per cent every year between now and 2032. It is predicted to be the sixth largest outbound market by 2032.
Big changes
Brown talked about how today’s traveller is changing. They think more carefully about sustainability and flexibility, and they want blended and longer trips. They are also influenced by social media (mainly Instagram, Facebook and TikTok). After lockdown, travellers want adventure and to see the great outdoors but, surprisingly, city trips are also very popular. Brown said further that trips are getting longer – up from nine days to 14.
The sector is changing too, he observed, and that investment and innovation are very important. Brown said the speed of recovery is down to leaders – adaptation is key. He said it’s not always the biggest budgets that make the most impact: everyday innovations can be significant.
Brown added that that on top of this, the world is changing too. Inflation, geo-political uncertainty, the energy crisis and climate crisis are big factors. He commented that the biggest issues facing travel and tourism are economic outlook, another pandemic, staff shortages and the climate crisis.
At the moment, in travel and tourism, there are one in nine unfilled jobs in the EU, in the US one in 15, and in Italy one in 6. To beat these shortages, he recommends that governments and businesses:
- Facilitate labour mobility
- Facilitate flexible and remote work
- Enable decent work and provide competitive employee benefits
- Develop and support a skilled workforce
- Promote opportunities within the sector
- Strengthen collaboration at all levels
- Adopt technological and digital solutions.
Brown finished by saying that tourism is a force for good, and vitally important.