Over the last two or three decades, tourism has globally shown a stepwise increase. Following the outbreak of the pandemic and its far-reaching implications on the tourism industry, the recovery of the sector remains a top priority for every nation.

Tourism has become a social, cultural, and economic phenomenon worldwide. Some interesting facts and statistics about global tourism industry in the pre-pandemic reveal that travel and tourism industry was one of the world’s largest industries with a global economic contribution of over 7.6 trillion U.S. dollars in 2016. Before the pandemic, worldwide, the tourism industry has experienced steady growth almost every year. According to Statista, international tourist arrivals increased from 528 million in 2005 to 1.19 billion in 2015. In 2015, global international tourism revenue reached approximately 1.26 trillion U.S. dollar, having almost doubled since 2005. As of 2019, its total contribution to GDP worldwide was over 9.2 trillion US dollars.

Tourism and its role in the SDG’s.

Fulfilling the universal 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals is not an easy work, especially after rebounding from the devastating pandemic. Just a few months before the pandemic outbreak, 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals were recorded in 2019, globally. These figures were forecasted to exceed 1.8 billion by 2030. Nevertheless, in early 2020, travel and tourism have been interrupted, all tourism-related activities have ceased or at least slowed down, disrupting the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development.

Tourism is a great asset for the completion of the targets of SDG’s. As the 17 SDG’s and the corresponding 169 SDG targets offer the world a new direction, tourism can and must play a significant role in delivering sustainable solutions for people, the planet, prosperity and peace (UNWTO). Since tourism has been recognized as an economic powerhouse and became the third highest world category in export earnings in 2015 – representing 10 percent of world GDP, 30 percent of services exports and one out of every 10 jobs in the world – it has been included as targets in the SDG’s. Since then, the tourism sector is believed to have the potential to contribute, directly to all the goals, particularly Goals 8, 12 and 14 which are the inclusive and sustainable economic growth, the sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and the sustainable use of oceans and marine resources.

Tourism Day as the kickstart of recovery and growth of global tourism.

September 27th is World Tourism Day. This year, the observance mainly focuses on “Tourism for inclusive Growth”. It is an opportunity to glance at the pre-pandemic global tourism and to rethink the future of this sector. In addition, World Tourism Day is also an occasion to foster awareness of tourism’s social, cultural, political and economic values and its contribution towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Today, to help you celebrate this Tourism Day, think about what you are willing to do to develop a sustainable tourism and how you can achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals through this sector.

Sources: United Nations/ Tourism for SDGs / The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) / Statista.