Portuguese , Greek tourism to reach record-breaking high this year, says WTTC
Travel Biz News —-
Portuguese and Greek travel tourism sector is projected to reach the 2019 peak this year , according to World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2023 Economic Impact Research (EIR) released this week.
The sector is set to contribute €40.4 billion to the Portuguese economy by the end of 2023, surpassing the 2019 pre-pandemic high of €40.1 billion.
The sector will create around 30,000 jobs this year, only 68,000 jobs below the 2019 level of just over one million, to reach 950,000 employed by travel and tourism.
Last year, the sector’s GDP contribution grew 61.6% to reach nearly €38 billion, representing 15.8% of the Portuguese economy. The sector also created 83,000 more jobs from the previous year to reach 921,000 jobs nationally.
The latest report from the global tourism body shows that the sector has now recovered to more than 90% of the pre-pandemic level of jobs.
Last year also saw the return of international travellers heading to Portugal, with Spain (16%), France (12%), UK (11%), and Germany and U.S. (both 8%) leading as source markets for international arrivals in Portugal.
International visitor spend contributed €21.7 billion to the national economy in 2022, representing a striking year-on-year growth of 80.4%, and just 7.7% behind 2019 levels.
Similarly , WTTC revealed the Greek travel and tourism sector is projected to near pre-pandemic levels this year.
The sector is set to contribute €39.2 billion to the Greek economy by the end of 2023, only 4% behind the 2019 pre-pandemic high of €40.8 billion.
The sector will create more than 17,000 jobs this year, reaching the 2019 peak of 820,000 employed by travel and tourism.
Last year also saw the return of international travellers heading to Greece, with the UK (14%), Germany (14%), and Bulgaria (10%) leading as source markets for international arrivals in Greece.
In 2022, the European Travel & Tourism sector contributed €1.9 trillion to the regional economy, just 7% below the 2019 peak. WTTC forecasts the regional sector’s GDP contribution will reach €2.04 trillion in 2023 and be within touching distance of the 2019 highpoint.
The sector employed 34.7 million people across the region in 2022, an increase of 2.9 million from the previous year, but still 3.2 million behind the 2019 peak.
WTTC forecasts the sector will fully recover the jobs lost during the pandemic by the end of 2024.
July 17, 2023
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