SHANGHAI, China, Oct. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — China’s travel and tourism sector is expected to inject a record US$126.2 billion into the national economy by the end of this year, the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2024 Economic Impact Review (EIR) revealed today.
Domestic travel spending is also set to reach new heights this year, and is expected to contribute US$67.9 trillion to the Chinese economy in 2024, according to the latest research from WTTC in partnership with Oxford Economics, a world leader in global economic forecasting.
According to the international tourism organization, travel and tourism jobs are expected to account for 10.6% of total employment in the country this year, just 2% below 2019 levels.
However, despite this increased contribution to GDP and employment numbers returning to pre-pandemic levels, international visitor spending is still expected to remain more than 25% below 2019 levels this year.
As one of the last major economies to reopen its borders following the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s delayed reopening to international visitors in 2023 has had a major impact on the full recovery of its travel and tourism industry.
“China’s travel and tourism sector is showing signs of recovery with a strong rebound in both economic contribution and domestic travel spending, but international travel spending has lost momentum due to a much delayed reopening,” said Julia Simpson, president and CEO of WTTC.
“The new, more streamlined visa application process is certainly a step in the right direction and should encourage even more international visitors this year and next.”
Looking back on 2023
Last year, China’s travel and tourism industry contributed US$9.2 trillion to the economy, 24% lower than 2019 levels. And while employment in the sector grew by nearly 16%, the total number of people employed in the sector remained at 77.47 million, 4.8 million lower than the previous peak.
Spending by domestic travelers also slowed last year, coming in at just over JPY 5 trillion, 17.2% lower than in 2019. Meanwhile, spending on overseas travel was just over JPY 406 billion, about 58% lower.
Across Northeast Asia, travel and tourism is expected to grow by more than 29 percent this year to a record US$2.3 trillion, potentially employing more than 89.5 million people, slightly below 2019 levels.
International visitor spending is expected to reach more than US$250 billion this year, while domestic visitor spending is expected to reach a record US$1.2 trillion, nearly 10% above pre-pandemic levels.
Check out the economic impact data from the WTTC Research Hub
The research was conducted in collaboration with Oxford Economics. All values are constant at 2023 prices and exchange rates reported in March 2024.
The economies of Northeast Asia include China, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region), Japan, Macau (Special Administrative Region), Mongolia, South Korea, and Taiwan (China).
