World Tourism Cities Federation and the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences jointly release "Report on World Tourism Economy Trends 2019"

BEIJING, Jan. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 16, 2019, the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (TRC-CASS) jointly released the "Report on World Tourism Economy Trends 2019" ("the Report"). More than 60 delegates from WTCF, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, foreign institutions in China such as the Panama and South African Embassies, Chongqing City and domestic tourism-related agencies participated in the release and forum discussion of the Report.

According to the Report, the total number of global tourists in 2018 reached 12.1 billion people, an increase of 580 million people over the previous year, with a growth rate of 5.0%. Compared with 2017, the growth rate dropped by 0.7 percent, and the total income of global tourism reached 5.34 trillion US dollars, accounting for 6.1% of global GDP, a decrease of 0.4% over the previous year. It is estimated that the total number of global tourists will reach 12.76 billion in 2019, with a growth rate of 5.5%. Compared with 2018, the growth rate will rise by 0.5 percent. The total global tourism revenue will reach 5.54 trillion US dollars, accounting for 6.0% of global GDP.

The Report follows the previous analytical framework, focuses on the perspectives of global, regional, country, industry and city levels and makes a panoramic analysis of the development trends of the world tourism economy from several aspects. The Report summarizes the following characteristics: First, global economic growth will slow down in 2019, but the tourism economy will rise steadily. Second, tourism development in five global regions is becoming more obvious, with growth in Asia and decline in Europe. Third, the scale and growth rate of tourism investment in Asia-Pacific are among the top in all continents. Fourth, the Report innovatively puts forward the concept of "T20" countries, which create 80% of global tourism revenue. Fifth, the reform of payment promotes the upgrade of tourism consumption. Cities are still the main destination for inbound tourists, and 95% of international cities are from Asia-Pacific, Europe and the U.S. Sixth, six major marketing innovations represented by virtual technology and whole industry chain cooperation create new tourism experiences. Seventh, cities are still the main destination for inbound tourists.