In 2024, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the global gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to **** trillion U.S. dollars. This figure, which includes the direct, indirect, and induced impact of the global travel and tourism market, represented an increase in total contribution to GDP of *** percent over 2019. As forecast, the total contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the global GDP was expected to reach **** trillion U.S. dollars in 2025. Which countries record the highest travel and tourism contribution to GDP? GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year. It is considered an important indicator of a country's economic strength, and a positive change in GDP is a sign of economic growth. Both before and after the impact of COVID-19, the United States and China were by far the leading travel markets based on the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP, followed by Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. What are the most visited countries in the world? In 2023, France was the country with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide, welcoming 100 million international visitors. While the United States reported the third-highest number of inbound tourist arrivals that year, it was the destination with the highest international tourism receipts worldwide, ranking ahead of Spain and the United Kingdom.

In 2024, the share of travel and tourism's total contribution to global gross domestic product (GDP) showed a decline of *** percentage points compared to 2019. Overall, the travel and tourism market represented ** percent of the global GDP in 2024. That year, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the global GDP amounted to almost ** trillion U.S. dollars. What is the contribution of travel and tourism to employment? In 2024, the total number of travel and tourism jobs worldwide exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with global travel and tourism employment surpassing *** million. This figure, which refers to jobs generated directly and indirectly by the travel and tourism sector, was forecast to grow further in 2025. How many people travel every year? After sinking in 2020 to the lowest point recorded since 1989, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide caught up with pre-pandemic levels in 2024, reaching almost *** billion. Both before and after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Europe was the global region with the highest number of international tourist arrivals.

In 2023, the United States was the country worldwide with the highest total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP. That year, the total GDP contribution of travel and tourism in the U.S. amounted to **** trillion U.S. dollars, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. China and Germany followed in the ranking in 2023, with travel and tourism's total contributions to GDP of around *** trillion and *** billion U.S. dollars, respectively. Overall, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP worldwide reached almost ** trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. What are the most visited countries worldwide? While the U.S. and China reported the highest figures in terms of travel and tourism contribution to GDP in 2023, it was a European destination that led the ranking of countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide. With *** million international arrivals in 2023, France was the most visited travel destination in the world that year, ahead of Spain, the United States, and Italy. How many people work in the global travel and tourism sector? After declining sharply due to the impact of COVID-19, the number of travel and tourism jobs worldwide bounced back in 2023, reaching around *** million, nearly catching up with pre-pandemic levels. That year, China and India were the countries with the highest travel and tourism employment worldwide.

In 2023, the share of travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in European Union member countries and the United Kingdom remained in most cases below the figures reported before the COVID-19 pandemic, but showed strong signs of recovery. Overall, Croatia was the EU country where travel and tourism contributed the highest share of gross domestic product in 2023. That year, these industries generated, directly and indirectly, nearly ** percent of the country's GDP. Portugal and Greece followed in the ranking in 2023, with travel and tourism representing **** percent and **** percent of GDP, respectively.

In 2019, Macau generated the highest share of GDP through direct travel and tourism of any other economy worldwide, with over half its GDP coming from this sector. Macau is a city and a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China - its economy is largely based on casino gaming and tourism. The nation with the second highest share of GDP generated by direct travel and tourism was the Maldives. The country began to develop its travel and tourism industry in 1970s and now over 30 percent of GDP is coming from this sector in 2019.

What is GDP?

GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year. It is considered an important indicator of the economic strength of a country and a positive change is an indicator of economic growth.

What is direct contribution to GDP? The direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP reflects the ‘internal’ spending on travel and tourism (total spending within a particular country on travel and tourism by residents and non-residents for business and leisure purposes) as well as government 'individual' spending - spending by government on travel and tourism services directly linked to visitors, such as cultural (e.g. museums) or recreational (e.g. national parks).

Contributing a staggering *** trillion U.S. dollars to China’s GDP in 2023, the travel and tourism industry proved to be a vital industry for the East Asian country’s economy. This pivotal industry provided huge GDP contributions to a number of countries across the Asia-Pacific region. Japan and India both saw impressive figures, while Southeast Asia alone has experienced constant GDP increases from the travel and tourism industry. Why Asia-Pacific The travel and tourism industry has made significant monetary additions to many developing economies throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Southeast Asia stands in the foreground as one of the regions which relies heavily on its tourism success. A success which could be inferred through the rising number of tourist arrivals to the ASEAN states. A likely reason why APAC has become one of the leading regions for tourism, could be related to its competitive prices. Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region are cheaper than the usual Western tourist hotspots, in this way, the region has begun to appeal to an increasing number of international travelers. Domestic tourism The Asia-Pacific region has not only attracted international tourists throughout recent years but has also received a great influx of domestic tourists. Growing economies in the region, resulting in an emerging middle class, have made the possibility of increased domestic travel a reality. Intra-regional tourism accounted for approximately half of APAC’s tourism.

This statistic describes the total contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product (GDP) across the Middle East from 2012 to 2017, with an estimate for 2018 and a forecast for 2028. According to forecasts, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the GDP of Middle Eastern countries will amount to around 486.1 billion U.S. dollars by 2028.

In 2024, the total contribution of travel and tourism to Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to *** billion euros. This figure, which includes the direct, indirect, and induced impact of the travel and tourism market, was predicted to reach an estimated *** billion euros in 2025.

In 2023, travel and tourism in the country generated, directly and indirectly, 131.4 billion U.S. dollars. The estimated contribution of the travel and tourism industry to GDP is 135.5 U.S. dollars in 2024. It is forecast for the contribution of travel and tourism to Turkey's GDP to rise even more by 2034.

In 2023, the travel and tourism sector in the United States contributed approximately 2.36 trillion U.S. dollars to gross domestic product (GDP). This figure saw growth over the pre-pandemic levels of 2019 when the travel and tourism sector contributed 2.27 trillion U.S. dollars to the North American country's economy.

In 2023, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Europe nearly equaled the figure from 2019, recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the total contribution of these industries to Europe's GDP amounted to roughly **** trillion euros in 2023. As predicted, this figure was expected to reach an estimated *** trillion euros in 2024.

This statistic describes the total economic contribution of tourism and travel to the United Arab Emirates from 2012 to 2017, with an estimate for 2018 and a forecast for 2028. According to forecasts, the total economic contribution of tourism and travel to the GDP of the UAE in 2028 will be 280.6 billion United Arab Emirates dirham.

In the financial year 2024, foreign visitor spending contributed around ** percent to the travel and tourism gross domestic product (GDP) in India. Whereas, domestic spending contributed about ** percent to India's travel and tourism GDP.

In 2022, Bahrain's travel and tourism industry had the highest contribution to its gross domestic product (GDP) among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, at about ** percent. The average contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the GCC region was *** percent in that year.

This statistic describes the total economic contribution of tourism and travel to the GDP of the Gulf Cooperation Council from 2012 to 2017, with an estimate for 2018 and a forecast for 2027. According to forecasts, the total economic contribution of tourism and travel to the GDP of the GCC in 2027 will be 318.6 billion U.S. dollars.

This statistic shows the direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the United States from 2013 to 2017, by type of travel spending. Leisure travel spending contributed ***** billion U.S. dollars of the direct travel and tourism GDP in the United States in 2017.

This statistic presents the direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Europe from 2012 to 2018, with an additional forecast for 2028. Over this period, the direct contribution of the travel and tourism industry to GDP in Europe increased, reaching around 760 billion U.S. dollars in 2017.

In 2024, the direct and indirect contribution of travel and tourism to the United Kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP) was *** percent higher than in 2019, the year prior to the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Overall, these industries' total contribution to the country's GDP amounted to roughly *** billion British pounds in 2024. Has tourism in the UK recovered from the impact of COVID-19? While inbound resident visits to the UK dropped to just above ***** million in 2021 - the lowest figure reported in *** decades - the volume of inbound tourist visits to the United Kingdom rebounded in 2022, and grew to ** million in 2023. International arrivals, however, remained below pre-pandemic levels. Similarly, while outbound tourist visits from the UK experienced around a ******** increase in 2022 compared to the previous year, the country still reported around ***** million fewer trips abroad in 2023 than in 2019. What are the favorite holiday destinations among Britons? Either before or after the impact of the health crisis, vacationing remained the main travel purpose for outbound visits from the UK. In 2023, ***** was the most visited holiday destination by UK travelers, followed by *************************.

In 2023, the share of travel and tourism's total contribution to Italy's gross domestic product (GDP) nearly equaled the figure reported in 2019, the year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, travel and tourism generated, directly and indirectly, roughly **** percent of the country's GDP in 2023. That year, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Italy amounted to nearly *** billion euros. What is the contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Italy? In 2023, the total contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Italy recovered from the impact of the health crisis. Overall, these industries generated, directly and indirectly, just under ************* jobs in 2023, denoting a ****-percent increase from 2019. What are the leading inbound tourism markets in Italy? In 2023, the total international tourist expenditure in Italy, including overnight and same-day visitors, surpassed ** billion euros, the highest figure reported to date. When breaking down the inbound tourism expenditure in Italy by country, Germany ranked as the leading market, ahead of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.

Portugal experienced a recovery of over 30 percent in the total travel and tourism contribution to its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, after a strong drop due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Prior to this crisis, this sector represented over 40 billion U.S. dollars of the Portuguese economy. By 2024, more than 58 billion U.S. dollars were forecasted as contribution to the country's GDP. Tourism spending in Portugal In 2023, Portugal's tourism services generated a sales revenue close to 38.9 billion euros, signalizing the post-pandemic recovery for this sector, which began in the previous year. Furthermore, inbound tourism expenditures in the Iberian country for the same year reached 25 billion euros, representing an increase from the previous year. How many travelers make their way to Portugal each year? From 2022 to 2024, Portugal witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of international overnight visitors, with the figure reaching 56 million in the latter year – more than in 2019. The recovery of the Portuguese tourism sector from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can also be seen in monthly development. While in 2020 and 2021, the usual influx of foreign guests in Portuguese accommodation establishments during the summer season was affected by the global health crisis, the country saw a return to normality in 2022, with August reaching the annual peak of 1.96 million travelers, which rose to 2.27 million by 2024.