Julia Simpson (WTTC) predicts China will become the world's largest tourism market

01-10-23

The industry's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is going "really well", said World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) chief executive Julia Simpson, who predicted that China will become the world's largest travel and tourism market in the next three to five years.

"China has finally reopened and made a full recovery," she said in an interview at the recent Global Tourism Economics Forum (GTEF) in Macau, China.

Noting that before the pandemic, travel and tourism accounted for one in 10 US dollars generated globally, 10 percent of the global economy and one in 10 jobs, the pandemic caused many job losses and business closures, Simpson said.

"But by the end of 2023, we should almost be back to the $10 trillion that this sector was earning globally," he added.

The forum, which was held under the theme "Destination 2030: Unlocking the power of tourism for business and development", brought together government, destination and business representatives from 20-23 September.

On China's travel and tourism prospects, Simpson explained that the Asian country is a very important market and is worth 1.8 trillion US dollars which, although it lost some of it during the pandemic, has reopened and the Chinese have started to travel again. "And people are starting to visit China. The prospects are very good," he said.

"We expect that, in the next three to five years, China will become the largest travel and tourism market. It's incredible," he concluded.

The WTTC was founded in 1990 and is a non-profit organisation based in London. Its membership includes CEOs, senior executives and chairmen of private sector travel and tourism companies around the world.