WTTC report Tourism industry to grow by 7.2 pct this year

2014-3-19

From：Macau Daily Times

The travel and tourism industry in Macau is set to grow 7.2 percent this year, according to a report issued by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
Each year, WTTC carries out an economic analysis on the impact of the travel and tourism sector in 184 countries. According to the report, in Macau, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013 represented 43.1 percent, mainly reflecting the economic activity generated through hotels, travels agents, airliners and other passenger transportation services. “This is forecast to rise by 6.8 percent in 2014,” it reads.
Moreover, the research to which the Times had access shows that the direct contribution of the travel and tourism sector to GDP is expected to grow by 4.6 percent by 2024.
In a wider analysis, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP, including wider effects from investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts, represented 86.2 percent of GDP, and is expected to grow by 7.2 percent in 2014.
The report also assessed how this sector contributed to employment, as well as analyzing visitor exports and investments. Representing 41 percent of the total employment rate last year, this figure is not due to change much over 2014.
“Travel and tourism directly generated 165,500 jobs in 2013 (41.1 percent of total employment) and this is forecast to grow by 1.0 percent in 2014 to 167,000 (46.8 percent of the total employment),” it reads. An increase of 1.4 percent is expected over the next ten years, with the travel and tourism sector set to directly account for 191,000 jobs by 2024.
The research also found that the total contribution of this industry to employment was 293,500 jobs over last year, representing 83.8 percent of total employment. This figure is forecast to rise by 2.1 percent this year to 300,000 jobs. By 2024, this industry will help support 367,000 jobs.
According to researchers, visitor exports “are a key component of the direct contribution” of the travel and tourism industry. Macau generated MOP375,894.0 million in visitor exports in 2013, and this is expected to grow by 3.8 percent this year, with Macau “expecting to attract 16,382,000 international tourist arrivals.” By 2024, they forecast that international tourist arrivals will total 26,768,000 and generate an expenditure of MOP557,589million – which represents an increase of 3.6 percent.
The sector in question is believed to have attracted capital investment of MOP23,447.9 million in 2013, a number expected to rise by 10.3 percent this year and by 7.5 percent in the next 10 years. Furthermore, the report shows that the travel and tourism sector’s share of total national investment will rise from 42.7 percent in 2014 to 60.2 percent in 2024.
Regarding the different components of travel and tourism, leisure travel spending assumes greater importance, generating 95.9 percent of direct travel and tourism GDP in 2013, compared to the 4.1 percent registered for business travel spending. Leisure travel spending is expected to grow by 3.9 percent this year, reaching MOP380,301.0 million, whereas business travel spending is expected to grow by 6.4 percent.
Furthermore, it has been revealed that foreign visitor spending represented 98.5 percent in 2013 of direct travel and tourism GDP in 2013, whereas domestic travel spending generated only 5 percent. The latter is expected to grow significantly this year, by 15.4 percent, with visitor exports expected to grow by 3.8 percent.
The WTTC report also provided rankings regarding last year. Macau features in higher positions in rankings for the travel and tourism sector’s direct contribution to employment (first placed in the list), in travel and tourism’s direct and total contribution to GDP (second), visitor exports (sixth), and in travel and tourism investment contribution to total capital investment (first).
The president and CEO of WTTC, Mr David Scowsill, stated that 2013 has proven to be another successful year for the travel and tourism sector. “Travel and tourism’s contribution to the world economy grew for the fourth consecutive year in 2013, helped especially by strong demand from international travellers. Visitor exports, the measure of money spent by these international tourists, rose by 3.9 percent, at a global level year-on-year, to USD1.3 trillion, and by over 10 percent within South East Asia,” he stated.
As this growth is forecast to continue in the coming years, he warned governments to implement further open visa schemes and “adopt intelligent rather than punitive taxation policies.”
“It is also critical that public and private partnerships ensure that long-term infrastructure and human resource needs are planned responsibly and sustainably, to absorb the inevitable growth that we are forecasting,” he added.
The World Travel & Tourism Council presents itself as the global authority on the economic and social contribution of the travel and tourism sector, and aims to promote sustainable growth for this industry. The annual reports are conducted by WTTC alongside its research partner, Oxford Economics.

Copyright@Macau Daily Times