WTTC: Tourism to contribute €46.7 billion to Greece's GDP by 2026

Tourism's total contribution to Greece's GDP will reach 46.7 billion euros, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Economic Impact Report 2016 launched on Monday.

The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP in 2015 was EUR13.3bn (7.6% of GDP). This is forecast to fall by 0.5% to EUR13.2bn in 2016.This primarily reflects the economic activity generated by industries such as hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services (excluding commuter services). But it also includes, for example, the activities of the restaurant and leisure industries directly supported 

The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP is expected to grow by 4.0% pa to EUR19.5bn (9.3% of GDP) by 2026.

The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP (including wider effects from investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts) was EUR32.5bn in 2015 (18.5% of GDP) and is expected to decrease by 1.8 % to EUR31.9bn (18.6% of GDP) in  2016.

It is forecast to rise by 3.9% pa to EUR46.7bn by 2026 (22.4% of GDP).

Travel & Tourism's contribution to employment in Greece

Travel & Tourism generated 401,000 jobs directly in 2015 (11.3% of total employment) and this is forecast to grow by 0.6% in 2016 to 403,500 (11.5% of total employment).

This includes employment by hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services 

(excluding commuter services). It also includes, for example, the activities of the restaurant and leisure industries directly supported by tourists.

By 2026, Travel & Tourism will account for 529,000 jobs directly, an increase of 2.7% pa over the next ten years.

The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to employment (including wider effects from investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts, see page 2) was 822,000 jobs in 2015 (23.1% of total employment).  This is forecast to fall by 0.6% in 2016 to 817,000 jobs (23.2% of total employment).  

By 2026, Travel & Tourism is forecast to support 1,095,000 jobs (28.0% of total employment), an increase of 3.0 % pa over the period.

Visitor Exports and Investment 

Money spent by foreign visitors to a country (or visitor exports) is a key component of the direct contribution of Travel & Tourism. In 2015, Greece generated EUR14.8bn in visitor exports.  

In 2016, this is expected to grow by 2.2%, and the country is expected to attract 24,021,000 international tourist arrivals.

By 2026, international tourist arrivals are forecast to total 37,972,000, generating expenditure of EUR23.3bn, an increase of 4.4% pa.

Travel & Tourism is expected to have attracted capital investment of EUR2.7bn in 2015.  This is expected to fall by 7.6% in 2016, and rise by 3.8% pa over the next ten years to EUR3.6bn in 2026.

Travel & Tourism’s share of total national investment will rise from 16.5% in 2016 to 17.2%  in 2026.

Different components of Travel & Tourism

Leisure travel spending (inbound and domestic) generated 93.1% of direct Travel & Tourism GDP in 2015 (EUR22.5bn) compared with 6.9% for business travel spending (EUR1.7bn).

Leisure travel spending is expected to grow by 0.8% in 2016 to EUR22.6bn, and rise by 3.7% pa to EUR32.7bn in 2026.

Business travel spending is expected to grow by 3.0% in 2016 to EUR1.7bn, and rise by 7.5% pa to EUR3.5bn in 2026.

Domestic travel spending generated 38.4% of direct Travel & Tourism GDP in 2015 compared with 61.6% for visitor exports (ie foreign visitor spending or international tourism receipts).

Domestic travel spending is expected to fall by 5.9% in 2016 to EUR8.7bn, and rise by 1.8% pa to EUR10.4bn in 2026.

Visitor exports are expected to grow by 2.2% in 2016 to EUR15.2bn, and rise by 4.4% pa to EUR23.3bn in 2026.

Global contribution of Travel and Tourism

On a global level, travel and tourism last year added 7.2 million jobs to the global economy and contributed over $ 7.2 trillion in GDP, .

“Travel and tourism once again has proved its resilient nature. Terror attacks, disease outbreaks, currency fluctuations and geopolitical challenges have impacted the sector at a country or regional level, but travel and tourism at the global level continues to produce another robust performance”, WTTC President & CEO, David Scowsill, noted.

The Economic Impact Reports provide economic data on the contribution of the travel and tourism sector on a global level as well as for 184 countries and 24 regions.

“Despite uncertainty in the global economy and specific challenges to travel  and tourism last year, the sector grew by 3.7 percent, contributing a total of 9.8 percent to the global GDP”, Mr Scowsill added.

“Travel and tourism also supported a total of 284 million jobs in 2015, an increase of 7.2 million, which means it now supports, directly and indirectly, 1 in 11 jobs on the planet.”

Growth by country

According to the findings, Travel and tourism direct contribution to GDP growth outpaced overall GDP country growth in 127 of the 184 countries covered by the research. Countries where Travel & Tourism most markedly outperformed the wider economy in 2015 include Iceland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Uganda.

The growth of the sector is boosted by a worldwide increase in middle-class income households, an ageing population, which tends to travel more, and growing connectivity between destinations, making travel more accessible and affordable.

Performance by region

All regions of the world showed growth in total travel and tourism contribution to GDP in 2015. Southeast Asia was the fastest growing region with growth of 7.9 percent followed by South Asia, which grew 7.4 percent. Middle East grew 5.9 percent, Caribbean 5.1 percent, Sub-Saharan Africa 3.3 percent, North America 3.1 percent, Europe 2.5 percent, Northeast Asia 2.1 percent, Latin America 1.5 percent and North Africa 1.4 percent.

Outlook for 2016 

In 2016, Travel & Tourism’s total contribution to GDP is expected to grow by 3.5 percent, and is again expected to outpace global economic growth for the sixth consecutive year.

Security concerns, border policies, oil prices, the strength of the US dollar relative to other currencies, and other macroeconomic developments will dictate travel trends in 2016 and beyond. However, over the next decade, travel and tourism is expected to continue to outpace the world economy, growing by four percent on average annually.

Defining the economic contribution of Travel & Tourism

Travel & Tourism is an important economic activity in most countries around the world. As well as its direct economic impact, the sector has significant indirect and induced impacts. The UN Statistics Division-approved Tourism Satellite Accounting methodology (TSA:RMF 2008) quantifies only the direct contribution of Travel & Tourism. WTTC recognises that Travel & Tourism's total contribution is much greater however, and aims to capture its indirect and induced impacts through its annual research. 

Direct Contribution

The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP reflects the ‘internal’ spending on Travel & Tourism (total spending within a particular country on Travel & Tourism by residents and non-residents for business and leisure purposes) as well as government 'individual' spending - spending by government on Travel & Tourism services directly linked to visitors, such as cultural (eg museums) or recreational (eg national parks). 

The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP is calculated to be consistent with the output, as expressed in National Accounting, of tourism-characteristic sectors such as hotels, airlines, airports, travel agents and leisure and recreation services that deal directly with tourists.The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP is calculated from total internal spending by ‘netting out’ the purchases made by the different tourism industries. This measure is consistent with the definition of Tourism GDP, specified in the 2008 Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework (TSA: RMF 2008).

Total Contribution

The total contribution of Travel & Tourism includes its ‘wider impacts’ (ie the indirect and induced impacts) on the economy. The ‘indirect’ contribution includes the GDP and jobs supported by:

● Travel & Tourism investment spending – an important aspect of both current and future activity that includes investment activity such as the purchase of new aircraft and construction of new hotels;

● Government 'collective'  spending, which helps Travel & Tourism activity in many different ways as it is made on behalf of the ‘community at large’ – eg tourism marketing and promotion, aviation, 

administration, security services, resort area security services, resort area sanitation services, etc; 

● Domestic purchases of goods and services by the sectors dealing directly with tourists - including, for example, purchases of food and cleaning services by hotels, of fuel and catering services by airlines, and IT services by travel agents.

The ‘induced’ contribution measures the GDP and jobs supported by the spending of those who are directly or indirectly employed by the Travel & Tourism sector.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report