Travel and tourism is a vital driver of economic growth, says Julia Simpson
The 2023 Economic Impact Research (EIR) of the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) says that the contribution of travel & tourism sector to China’s GDP is forecast to grow more than 150 pc this year. The sector is set to contribute CNY 9.9 trillion (USD 1.4 trillion) to the economy this year, edging closer to the 2019 pre-pandemic high of CNY 12.27 trillion.
Despite the effects of the pandemic spanning into 2022 in China, WTTC is forecasting for the sector to create almost 11.5 million jobs this year, recovering one in two of the jobs lost to reach 74.7 million. This means around one in 10 workers in China are directly or indirectly employed in the travel & tourism sector, says a press statement by the WTTC.
While the sector is still shy of 7.9 million jobs to reach pre-pandemic levels, by the end of this year it will only be 10 pc below 2019 levels, says the WTTC report, adding that international visitor spend in China is forecast to grow more than 50 pc this year to reach more than CNY 306 billion. Although this is positive growth, it is still almost 70 pc below the 2019 peak.
Due to ongoing travel restrictions, last year the sector’s GDP contribution declined by almost 30 pc to reach CNY 3.9 trillion, representing just over 3 pc of the economy.
In 2019, before the pandemic, the travel and tourism sector in China was worth CNY 12.3 trillion, representing almost 12 pc of the economy. The sector saw jobs decline in 2022, from the previous year, to a low of 62.9 million jobs nationally, one in 12 jobs across China.
International visitor spend in China also declined in 2022 as the effects of prolonged travel restrictions continued to have a chokehold on the sector. International visitor spend declined a further 8.5 pc, remaining almost 80 pc below 2019 levels. Domestic visitor spend followed a similar pattern, declining 33 pc last year, remaining 67 pc below 2019 levels.
Julia Simpson
“Travel and tourism is a vital driver of economic growth and job creation to China, and we predict a significant boost to the global Travel & Tourism sector as residents begin to travel once again. The fact China has reopened is great news. In 2019 Chinese tourists represented 15 pc of international spending and that figure is set to grow. We are urging governments to prioritise and streamline visa applications to ensure embassies can manage the high visa demand from Chinese residents,” says Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO.
In 2019 and 2022, between 74-77 pc of international visitors to mainland China came from Hong Kong, Macau, Myanmar, South Korea, Japan, the U.S. and Vietnam. There were 49.7 million arrivals from those source markets in 2019, however in 2022, this reduced by 85 pc to 7.2 million arrivals.
The global tourism body is forecasting that the sector will grow its GDP contribution to almost CNY 27TN by 2033, 14 pc of the Chinese economy and will employ over 100 million people across the country, with one in seven Chinese residents working in the sector.
In 2022, the Asia-Pacific travel and tourism sector contributed USD 1.6 trillion to the regional economy, but this is still 50 pc behind the 2019 peak. WTTC forecasts the region’s GDP contribution from the sector will reach more than USD 2.6 trillion in 2023, just 16 pc below the 2019 highpoint.
The sector employed over 155 million people across the region in 2022, an increase of 8.7 million from the previous year but still 15 pc behind pre-pandemic levels. WTTC forecasts the sector will fully recover the jobs lost during the pandemic by the end of 2024.
