Travel, Tourism on the Rebound in Major European Capitals

A new report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed strong signs of recovery of the economic impact from Travel & Tourism in the five city ‘powerhouses’ of Western Europe.

The Cities Economic Impact Report, sponsored by Visa and researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analysed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend. The study examined the impact of the sector in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Madrid.

The report from the global tourism body shows that in 2019, the Travel & Tourism sector contributed over $83.5BN to the economies of the five European capitals, and last year was just 15% below 2019 at almost $71BN.

Paris has shown the strongest recovery of the five capital cities with the other four being 18% to 30% below 2019, demonstrating slightly slower recoveries than the French capital. In Paris, the sector GDP contribution was $38BN in 2019 but in 2022 it recovered to just 6% below pre-pandemic levels at an estimated $35.7BN.

Although the sector’s GDP contribution to London was worth almost $15BN in 2022, it is slightly behind Berlin in terms of recovery to 2019 levels. The German capital’s contribution to the city’s economy was worth over $7.7BN in 2022, 18% below 2019.

Madrid’s GDP contribution was more than $5.5BN in 2022, 24% below 2019, however Rome is witnessing the slowest recovery - 30% below 2019 levels with a sector contribution of al-most $7BN.