Tourism Will Be Worth $16.5 Trillion In 2035

The presence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the opening was no coincidence. At the WTTC Global Summit, she defined the tourism sector as “an extraordinary generator of wealth and well-being”, while Tourism Minister Santanchè, who attended the entire event, emphasised: “International relations are fundamental to the development of tourism and partnerships, to sharing a vision that will take us far beyond and enable us to achieve goals that none of us could achieve alone. Tourism unites, it creates relationships between people.” A sector that, by 2035, will be worth more than $16.5 trillion worldwide, this summit is an opportunity to discover the major challenges of the future.

Manfredi Lefebvre D'Ovidio, President of the WTTC and Executive Chairman of the Abercrombie & Kent Travel Group, with extensive experience in the luxury cruise industry, shared his views with us, taking as his starting point the global tourism figures that confirm its recovery after Covid. We asked him to make some predictions for 2026: In 2024, the world recorded approximately 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals (visitors staying at least one night), representing approximately 99% of pre-pandemic (2019) levels. In the first quarter of 2025, arrivals increased by around 5% compared to the same period in 2024 (more than 300 million travellers), and by around 3% compared to the equivalent period before the pandemic. (Source: UNWTO) In terms of economic impact, the World Travel & Tourism Council forecasts that the travel and tourism sector will contribute approximately $ 11.7 trillion to the global economy in 2025, representing approximately 10.3% of global GDP. (Source: CNW Network) International visitor spending is estimated at $2.1 trillion in 2025, surpassing the previous peak of approximately $1.9 trillion in 2019. (Source: Globetrender). As for 2026, although there is no single definitive figure, Savills predicts that international arrivals will increase by 3-5% per year, depending on the region.