WTTC Sees Resilient Global Tourism

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) says it is registering strong growth in tourism despite global challenges.

The WTTC’s latest Economic Impact Report for 2016 shows that the travel and tourism sector is expected to grow by 3.1 percent, despite challenges from terrorism, political turmoil, global economic developments, and the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

There are regional variations in travel and tourism, with South Asia forecast to see growth of 5.9 percent. Within that region, WTTC sees China growing at 6.3 percent.

In contrast, Latin America will be the poorest performer, with an expected decline of 0.9 percent, driven by weakness in Brazil.

North America is expected to grow by 3.1 percent, while Europe, challenged by lower visitor spend, will still see a 2.2 percent uplift.

On a country basis, WTTC is forecasting slower growth for France as recent terrorist attacks have an impact.

Turkey is also suffering from a spate of terror attacks and the failed coup. WTTC sees travel and tourism’s contribution to GDP reduced further to -3.2 percent.

In Brazil, the sector is expected to contract despite the positive effect of the Olympics.

The UK’s decision to leave the EU is not expected to have an immediate impact on tourism, with growth of 3.6 percent expected for 2016. A higher number of international visitors to Britain will compensate for an expected drop in UK spend on holidays.

WTTC chief executive David Scowsill said the report “highlights the resilience of travellers and the robustness of our sector… Whilst we should not downplay the impact of incidents or turmoil at individual country level, on a macro-economic level we continue to register strong growth.”