WEF Says Tourism Is on a Roll, Though Challenges Remain
The 2024 Travel & Tourism Development Index, published by the World Economic Forum, highlights the return of global tourism activity to pre-pandemic levels, driven by the lifting of restrictions and significant pent-up demand. However, the sector's recovery has faced considerable challenges, such as uneven regional and market segment recoveries, labor shortages, and imbalances between supply and demand .
The report underscores that, despite these challenges, the tourism sector demonstrates notable resilience. Nevertheless, it faces additional pressures from macroeconomic, geopolitical, and environmental factors, including high global inflation rates, conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, and natural disasters like wildfires in Greece.
In this context, it becomes critical for tourism decision-makers not only to focus on improving the sector's readiness for future risks and opportunities but also to ensure that the sector contributes to global prosperity sustainably .
The 2024 Travel & Tourism Development Index measures a set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable and resilient development of the sector. Its objective is to serve as a crucial benchmarking tool for stakeholders, providing insights into the strengths and areas for improvement of tourism economies, facilitating strategic planning, and encouraging multi stakeholder dialogue for sustainable and resilient growth at various levels.
The 2024 edition of the index offers an overview of the current state of the tourism sector and the various interconnected challenges and opportunities it faces as it moves beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the report's special focus section uses index results and other research to provide a high-level overview of likely future global risks and challenges. It explores how the sector could help address issues such as economic inequality, environmental threats linked to climate change and pollution, technological innovation, and global connectivity .
In terms of short-term risks, the report identifies urgent concerns such as extreme weather events, pollution, inequality, limited economic prospects for parts of society, inflation, social polarization, and involuntary migration. Security challenges related to misinformation, armed conflict, and cybersecurity are also among the most severe short-term risks. In the long term, predominant risks are environmental, such as biodiversity loss and natural resource scarcity, as well as technological challenges like cybersecurity insecurity .
The tourism sector is not only affected by environmental risks but also significantly contributes to them. Therefore, it can play a major role in addressing these global challenges by mitigating its contribution to climate change and becoming a more sustainable and environmentally conscious sector .
By offering comprehensive assessments and strategic recommendations, the index aims to promote tourism development that is not only resilient and sustainable but also inclusive, ensuring that the sector positively contributes to global prosperity and the well-being of communities worldwide.
