WEF 2022: Prepare for future headwinds as tourism sector shows recovery

After being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic for two years, the tourism sector is showing signs of recovery in many parts of the world, with the US, Japan, Spain, France and Germany at the top.

India, meanwhile, ranked at the 54th place in an index, down from 46th in 2019, but still remained on the top within South Asia.

Released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday, The Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021: Rebuilding for a Sustainable and Resilient Future, raned 117 economies on a range of factors that are crucial to the development, sustainability and resiliency of their travel and tourism industry, which in turn contributes to economic and social development.

“Covid shutdowns have re-emphasised the important contribution travel and tourism makes to many economies around the world,” said Lauren Uppink, Head of Aviation, Travel and Tourism at the WEF.

The report found that while overall international tourism and business travel is still below pre-pandemic levels, the sector recovery has been bolstered by greater vaccination rates, return to more open travel, and growing demand for domestic and nature-based tourism.

According the UNWTO, the growth in international tourist arrivals in January 2022 over January 2021 is greater than arrivals growth in all of 2021, the report said.

Despite positive trends, the sector is still facing many hurdles with its recovery due to uneven vaccine distribution, capacity constraints, labour shortages, supply chain disruptions and more. 

“Government, business and civil society leaders can address barriers to recovery by looking at the different factors that can support the long-term development and resiliency of their respective travel and tourism economies,” added Uppink. 

In this year's travel index, other than the US, the top-10 scoring economies are high-income economies in Europe or Asia-Pacific. After top-ranking Japan, regional economies Australia and Singapore come in seventh and ninth, respectively.

Vietnam experienced the greatest improvement in score (from 60th to 52nd) on the overall index, while Indonesia (44th to 32nd) and Saudi Arabia (43rd to 33rd) had the greatest improvement in rank.

Europe is the only region to have decreased its average score since 2019, slightly eroding its considerable lead. Sub-Saharan Africa had the greatest improvement in performance, but far more needs to be done for economies in the region.

The Travel and Tourism Development Index 2021, published biennially, reflects the enhanced focus on the sector’s overall role in economic and social development and the greater need for stakeholder collaboration and development strategies.

As economies look to rebuild their travel and tourism sectors, the report said it should focus on making their travel sectors more inclusive, sustainable and resilient to future risks, by prioritising international openness and consumer confidence by improving health and security. 

“Efforts to build favourable and inclusive labour practices, improve environmental sustainability and strengthening the management of tourism demand and impact will help economies ensure strong development of their travel destinations,” said Uppink.