China on track to surpass US as 'tourism economy' within 10 years
China is expected to overtake the United States as the world's largest "travel and tourism economy" by 2023, according to David Scowsill, president and chief executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
He said the tourism industry contributed US$6.6 trillion (Bt205 trillion) to the global economy last year, accounting for 9 per cent of economic growth and supporting 260 million jobs around the world, or one in 11.
“By 2023, China will overtake the United States as the world’s largest travel and tourism economy,” he predicted.
Scowsill has been invited to the “2013 Global Tourism Economy Forum” (GTEF) at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre from September 17-19.
Themed as “Regenerate Our Economies: Invest in Travel and Tourism”, this edition aims at exploring how tourism can help regenerate growth in the world economies.
He will join the panel of heavyweight and business executives from the global tourism industry for in-depth discussion.
This year, GTEF aims at bringing together more global leaders of the political and economic sectors, ministers of tourism, provincial governors and officials from China, and experts from the finance and investment industries to share their ideas on how tourism-related industries have become and will continue to be the economic growth drivers.
Opportunities have resulted from myriad consolidations, acquisitions, and new partnerships in the global markets.
Besides Scowsill, key speakers will be Shao Qiwei, chairman of China’s National Tourism Administration, Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Michael Frenzel, chairman of the executive board of TUI AG and chairman of the WTTC, and Martin Craigs, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
