Tourism Industry Punches Way Above Its Weight Says WTTC - Travel Demand Will Drive 11.7% of World GDP in 1999

"The impact of Travel & Tourism on each country's economy is considerably bigger than realised," WTTC's President Geoffrey Lipman explains. "Travel demand directly generates activity in many other sectors of the economy such as retailing, construction and agriculture."

In 1999 the Travel & Tourism economy in the APEC member nations is expected to represent US$1,899 billion of GDP, that is almost 11.2% of the membership's total economic activity. By 2010 Travel & Tourism GDP in the APEC countries should have grown to US$3,682.8 billion and jobs supported, directly and indirectly, by Travel & Tourism will have grown by nearly 48 million to total 150 million. Capital investment is also forecast to grow in most of the countries and the value of international Travel & Tourism to APEC should rise to US$591.4 billion by 2010.

It is now ten years since WTTC and WEFA, collaborated to show the full impact that Travel & Tourism has on local, national regional and global economies. Now governments will consider this issue at the World Conference on the Measurement of the Economic Impact of Tourism in Nice, France (June 15-18, 1999) where an agreed international standard for Satellite Accounting will be established under the auspices of the World Tourism Organization.

"Over the past decade we have consistently argued the case for the recognition of Travel & Tourism as a major economic driver, development agent and sustainability force," says Lipman. "Central to this work has been a campaign for an international framework for measuring the full economic impact of this sector - a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA). The TSA under consideration in Nice is a result of close collaboration between the WTO, WTTC and other bodies - it is very much a public/private sector framework. We have adapted WTTC/WEFA model TSA's to show Travel & Tourism's impact on GDP, Capital Investment, Trade, Taxes and Employment for more than 160 countries."

The new Satellite Accounts shows the size of the industry itself - and the flow through effect across the economy. The former satisfies the statistical need: the latter meets the business and policy need to generate capital investment, encourage exports (foreign visitors), expand infrastructure and above all create jobs.

Lipman notes that both Bill Gates and John Naisbitt have already recognised the importance of the Travel & Tourism sector to the global economy. "Bill Gates identified it with healthcare and education as Microsoft's strategic 21st century business target," he says, "and Naisbitt sees it as a key component of the 21st century economy along with telecommunications and information technology."