Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in its travel and tourism economy. But Canada is just beginning to catch up after years of cutbacks.
The World Travel & Tourism Council’s annual Economic Impact Report highlights the changes and growth taking place worldwide in the travel and tourism sector. It also projects travel & tourism investment of the G20 countries to present a look at how the world’s largest economies are focusing on the industry.
“Saudi Arabia is a destination that has been abuzz, as the destination has seemingly invested in advertising,” the WTTC report states. “Leading up to the pandemic Saudi Arabia was in fact investing significantly into its tourist sector with investment topping $40 billion by 2015.
“The ongoing global pandemic saw the destination curtail its investment, but this year Saudi Arabia is projected to invest nearly $50 billion dollars in the travel and tourism sector and will likely exceed that by 2025. Furthermore, by 2027 projections see Saudi Arabia investing over $60 billion in the travel & tourism sector.”
The WTTC says Canada’s investment in the travel and tourism sector “peaked in 2016 when the country topped $20 billion in investment. Subsequent years saw significant decreases and by 2021 investment was down to approximately $10 billion. But the country is projected to invest incrementally more over the next few years and is projected to reach $20 billion in investment by 2030.”
Projections show that in 2025 China and India will be the only countries to see more than 10% in annual change.
Leading up to the pandemic, the United States was also seeing significant YoY increases in tourism investment, exceeding $235 billion in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the report states. “The U.S. cooled its investment in the sector at the onset of the pandemic but has steadily increased its investment and is projected to top $240 billion this year and continue to see increases of 3 - 7% YoY for the next with expectations that investment in the tourism sector will exceed $300 billion by 2030.
“Similarly, the UK was steadily investing in the travel and tourism sector from 2010 onwards with over $26 billion invested in 2018. Current projections indicate the UK is planning to invest significantly in 2024 and 2025, with an expected investment of over $25 billion in 2025. From there on, the sector is projected to see moderate growth by a small percentage YoY not to exceed $28 billion over the next decade.
The WTTC Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia and South Africa are all projected to see an increase in travel and tourism investment of 10% in 2024. But Brazil is only expected to see a 3.3% increase in investment in the sector this year, with subsequent years to see increases of less than 2% YoY.
“However, the sector as a whole shows sustained growth and given that tourism is a billion-dollar industry in the aforementioned markets, we’re still seeing significant investment across the board.”
