For nine consecutive years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the growth of the global travel and tourism sector exceeded that of the global economy. As the damage to the tourism sector caused by the pandemic slowly subsides, the sector is forecast to pick up the pace again and grow by 5.8% annually over the 2022 to 2032 period, more than twice as fast as the forecast global GDP. The sector is thus one of the main powerhouses of global economic growth.
When compared with other sectors, travel and tourism also ranks among the fastest growing. With a GDP growth rate of 3.5% in 2019, travel and tourism trailed only behind information and communication and financial services. Apart from technology and capital, our society is also heavily driven by the movement of people, which contributes to globalization and the growing connectedness of the world.
