Recent Release | 10 Nov 2023

WTM Global Travel Report

Tourism Consulting Team

Tourism Economics

The WTM Global Travel Report gives a voice to the changing needs of travellers and uncovers behaviours and new trends for 2024 and beyond.

Tourism Economics is proud to partner with World Travel Market to produce this comprehensive overview of travel and tourism. Consumers continue to demonstrate a seemingly insatiable demand for travel despite a complex and dynamic backdrop, including economic and social challenges. By examining the past and looking to the future we can better understand today’s opportunities. We hope this report sparks new meanings and empowers tourism organisations to make bigger and better decisions.

What you will learn:

Leisure travel has recovered strongly after the pandemic as consumers have prioritised discretionary spending towards travel. However, the global recovery of leisure travel has not been uniform as world regions re-opened at different stages and shifts in consumer behaviour led to some countries, notably those in the Middle East, outperforming others.
The outlook for travel in 2024 and beyond is healthy as consumers are expected to continue placing greater emphasis on travel. In the long-run, the growth of emerging markets, especially China, will create new travel demand. The “travelling class”, those with sufficient income to afford to travel, is expected to grow rapidly in many emerging markets creating new opportunities in the industry. Other factors such as aging demographics in advanced economies and cyclical shifts in the economy will influence travel demand and behaviour in different parts of the world in the future.
Evolving leisure traveller trends will also reshape the travel landscape in the future. The impact of climate change and increased awareness of sustainability may lead to significant changes in travel decision-making in the future, and the actions of government and industry may further contribute to shifts in behaviour in this sphere. Consumers seem likely to demonstrate increased demand for new, unique and authentic experiences in the future. A trend of increased personalisation, in which travellers seek greater choice and more meaningful experiences, is also likely to play an increasingly important role in the future of tourism.

Read the Report

The expert behind the research

Our consulting team at Tourism Economics are the world’s leading analysts of the global tourism and travel sector. They combine their expert insight with our state-of-the-art economic models and tools to answer the crucial questions facing our clients. The lead consultant on the project was:

Dave Goodger

Managing Director, EMEA, Tourism Economics

Tags:

'Travelling class' China Climate Change Consumers Economic challenges Emerging markets Global Travel Government Leisure Travel Middle East Outlook Pandemic Personalisation Social challenges Sustainability Tourism Economics Trends WTM

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