The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) launched a new Travel & Tourism (T&T) Power and Performance Report, ahead of the annual World Tourism Day celebrations. China, the US and India take the top three spots in the new Power Ranking, which combines growth over the past seven years in tourism’s contribution to GDP, international visitor spend, domestic tourism spend and capital investment.

WTTC president and CEO Gloria Guevara commented: “World Tourism Day is the global celebration of a sector that contributes 10.4 per cent of the world’s GDP and generates 313 million jobs. WTTC’s new report outlines power and performance rankings which showcase countries that have been most successful in growing their tourism sectors across the board.”

Using WTTC’s annual economic impact data, this new report ranks the performance of 185 countries over the last seven-year period, combining four indicators: contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP, international visitor spend, domestic tourism spend and capital investment in tourism. The inclusion of domestic spend and investment allows for a more rounded measure of performance and prioritisation than the more usual measures of GDP contribution and international spend. 

The report includes two rankings. The ‘Power’ ranking looks at those countries whose T&T has grown most in absolute terms over the past seven years. These countries are those which are powering T&T growth. The top ten countries in the Power ranking are China, USA, India, Mexico, United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, Canada, Indonesia and Australia and UAE tied for the tenth spot.

The ‘Performance’ ranking looks at those countries whose T&T has grown most quickly in percentage terms over the past seven years. These countries are those which are maximising the opportunity of tourism to drive economic development. The top 10 countries in the Performance ranking are Myanmar, Iraq, Georgia, Rwanda, Iceland, Nicaragua, Qatar, Congo, Armenia, and Ivory Coast.

Guevara continued: “Notably, G20 countries dominate the league, representing 12 of the top 20 countries, displaying once again the importance of Travel & Tourism both to mature markets and the global economy. Then, the emergence of up-and-coming countries highlights the central role that tourism can play within developing economies.”

“WTTC advocates that such growth is driven by strong travel facilitation policies, sustainable and proactive planning, and robust infrastructures that can withstand crises. Under such management, Travel & Tourism can thrive, as in the case of Indonesia where radical visa reform has been matched by a rapid growth in international tourist arrivals .”

“WTTC recognises countries who have worked strategically to capitalise on the economic benefits of the Travel & Tourism sector and realise opportunities for continued growth.  To this end, we invite government, policymakers and industry leaders to share their case studies with us as part of WTTC’s new recognition programme, which will identify proven methods for success."