Highlighting a dramatic tilt in global tourism growth towards the Asia-Pacific region, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) president and chief executive Gloria Guevara opened the 12th Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF) on Friday, 16th October.
Guevara began the Forum with a clear message: Asia is no longer merely participating in global tourism recovery; it is actively orchestrating it.
Addressing an audience of international ministers, industry stalwarts, and global business leaders, the WTTC president outlined how the sector continues to outperform the wider macroeconomic landscape, despite mounting geopolitical pressures and economic headwinds.
Growth is a given
While global gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 2.8 percent over the past year, the travel and tourism sectors expanded by four percent.
Crucially, the Asia-Pacific region surged ahead at eight percent, essentially doubling the global average for travel and tourism growth.
Guevara pointed out that global travel and tourism now accounts for roughly ten percent of total global GDP, generating a total sector contribution of $11.6 trillion.
Within that figure, international traveller spend hit $2 trillion, reflecting a three percent increase year-over-year.
Once again, Asia-Pacific topped performance tables, with international spend expanding at more than double the global rate.
China to the fore
Central to this regional acceleration is China’s aggressive policy execution, particularly around entry accessibility, digital infrastructure, and air connectivity.
Guevara highlighted progressive visa facilitation as a stand-out catalyst for volume growth, citing visa-waiver programmes and simplified entry protocols as global benchmark models.
Reinforcing how targeted policy reform directly translates into bottom-line economic performance, she remarked: “This single policy initiative brought over 14 million travellers to the region.”
China’s technology and destination stewardship also featured prominently, as Guevara pointed to advanced biometric deployment and real-time artificial intelligence tools like AI translation glasses deployed at events in Beijing as concrete examples of the region’s technological lead.
Pansy Ho champions Macau
Zooming in on the host territory, Guevara delivered high praise for Macau’s economic growth and destination positioning, specifically paying tribute to GTEF vice-chair Pansy Ho, referring to her as the best champion the destination could ask for.
Travel and tourism accounts for nearly 83 percent of Macau’s total GDP, making the sector a key player when it comes to local employment and stability.
Across China and Macau, major operational metrics have now comfortably eclipsed 2019 pre-pandemic benchmarks.
Maintaining growth
Looking ahead, Guevara acknowledged supply-chain and geopolitical risks, including flight capacity disruptions in the Middle East which have affected global air connectivity by roughly 14 percent, but maintained an overwhelmingly bullish stance on year-to-date numbers.
To maintain this growth curve, the WTTC chief reaffirmed the council’s commitment to eight core priorities: seamless travel, AI integration, destination stewardship, crisis management, climate resilience, capital investment, infrastructure development, and workforce expansion.
Ultimately, Guevara stressed that long-term resilience hinges on tight alignment between commercial leaders and state authorities.
She declared in closing: “The only path forward is public-private collaboration. WTTC firmly believes that public-private alignment is the single most effective way to address challenges, implement progressive policies, and unlock future growth.”
