According to the latest Economic Impact Report (EIR) from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the worldwide Travel & Tourism private sector, the US Travel & Tourism industry is expected to contribute more than $2.6 billion in GDP to the US economy over the next 10 years.
Based on an average annual growth rate of 3.9 percent, the U.S. Travel & Tourism industry is forecast to account for 9.2 percent of the entire U.S. economy by 2032 – than double the expected 2 percent growth rate of the total U.S. economy.
According to the estimate, which was created in collaboration with Oxford Economics, jobs in the U.S. Travel & Tourism sector could rise at a 3.9 percent annual pace between 2022 and 2032, representing a 47 percent increase from predicted job levels in 2022.
While the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) applauds the new National Travel and Tourism Strategy, which aims to ensure the sector’s long-term growth and job creation in the United States, WTTC believes that only corrective measures can make sure the sector’s long-term recovery and the creation of more than 6.3 million jobs over the next decade.
According to WTTC, the sector’s GDP contribution would increase by more than 42 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, reaching more than $1.8 billion by the end of the year and contributing for 7.6% of the US economy.
By the end of the year, the worldwide tourism organization predicts that employment in the sector will have risen by as much as 28%, to 13.5 million jobs overall, down from a record of 16.8 million in 2019.
“The long-term recovery of the US travel and tourism sector appears promising, with over 6 million new jobs expected to be added to the US economy over the next ten years,” stated Julia Simpson, President & CEO of the WTTC. “However, the terrain is extremely competitive, and the United States is losing international visitors.”
“A strong comeback in foreign tourism is required for a full recovery of Travel & Tourism,” Simpson concluded. While the new National Travel and Tourism Strategy is a start in the right direction, the United States’ economy and the millions of people who rely on it had another rough year in 2021.
“While many nations’ travel and tourism sectors are likely to rebound to pre-pandemic levels next year, the United States is not expected to do so until 2025.”
Despite robust expected job and GDP growth over the next ten years, WTTC‘s research shows that pressure from slow international traveler spending in the United States will continue to generate a considerable performance gap in the sector’s recovery this year.
At the present rate of recovery, overseas expenditure in the United States would not reach pre-pandemic levels until 2025, highlighting the need of opening borders to foreign visitors.
In fact, international traveler spending in the United States is still much below pre-pandemic levels, leading in a slower rebound in international tourism revenue.
International tourist expenditure increased by only 1.4 percent in 2021, hitting $40.3 billion, a far cry from the $190.9 billion spent in 2019.
