“The private and public sector must come together and concentrate on long run strategies, infrastructure and initiatives, not only short term goals, with the intention that our industry is previous to the expansion curve,” World Travel & Tourism president David Scowsill has argued.
In his closing speech on the 13th WTTC Global Summit in Abu Dhabi, Scowsill explained that, by 2050, there’ll be three billion people enjoying middle class wealth – meaning more middle class consumers, enjoying more travel, creating more jobs and generating more GDP.
He said the expansion opportunities ahead must be a wake-up call to the non-public and public sector to hitch together and plan sustainable, longer term strategies: “The industry must interact to drive investment in infrastructure, that is conducive to sustainable growth, not only now, but for the following ten, 25, even 50 years with the intention to be sure that tourism continues to make a very important economic contribution to global GDP and jobs and that the recent wave of middle class consumers from emerging markets can cross borders with ease”.
By 2023, WTTC forecasts tourism’s total economic contribution will account for ten per cent of world GDP, $10.5 trillion US dollars and one in ten jobs.
Total tourism employment is forecast so as to add over 70 million jobs over a higher decade, with two-thirds of these additional jobs in Asia.
Asia will continue to guide growth of the industry, with annual average growth of over six per cent.
The WTTC 13th Global Summit has seen government ministers and private and non-private sector executives from everywhere in the world come together in Abu Dhabi during the last two days to talk about the various issues and challenges facing the industry within the immediate and longer term.
In his closing speech, Scowsill also explained that lobbying governments to prevent seeing tourists as a soft target for generating treasury cash would remain a key central strategic priority for tourism over a higher year: “WTTC will develop finance models over the following twelve months a good way to demonstrate, country by country, the negative economic impact on tourism of punitive taxation on travellers.
“This data would be used to teach government leaders, that taxing the tourist doesn’t result in positive economic growth – actually, it results in the other.”
Scowsill also said that visa facilitation would greatly remain on its agenda for the subsequent year: “Too many of us still find it too complex and too difficult to cross borders as international tourists. Governments must balance security needs with a transformation in mindset and implement visa waiver and trusted traveller programmes.
“The tourism industry should continue to lobby for change and demonstrate to individual countries the commercial opportunities, that allows you to be generated, through improvements to visa processes.”