Julia Simpson returned to the ITB stage once again in 2024 for the trade shows opening ceremony.
The WTTC president & CEO opened the show with a reminder of 2023's focus: "Last year, right here on this stage, I said travel is back. Now, just 12 months later, it’s not just back, it’s booming."
Since then, momentum has continued to grow, as Julia elaborated: "Across Europe, we’re seeing massive increases in the number of international arrivals. Arrivals into Greece and Portugal are up more than 20% year on year and Spain, the second most popular destination in the world, is also set to have a great year with arrivals already up 13%."
While the show has returned to Berlin for this year's iteration, Julia was quick to give guests a glimpse outside of its Germanocentric focus: "2024 is set to be not just a bumper year for tourism here in Germany but for Europe and the world.
"Travel & Tourism was forecast to account for 9.2% of global GDP in 2023 or $9.5 trillion dollars, employing 320 million people. That’s one in 11 jobs around the world. And our vast contribution to the global economy is also set to grow."
Revealing projections that suggest one in nine jobs worldwide will involve travel and tourism, accounting for 11.6% of global GDP by that time, Julia's outlook was not one of sheer and endless growth, but of responsibility, too: "Travel is one of the great accelerators of global development. And yet, economics alone cannot capture the value of Travel & Tourism. Travel is a force for good in so many profound yet hard-to-quantify ways.
"At a time of political polarisation, it leads people to common ground. At a time of ecological collapse, it teaches the sanctity and majesty of the natural world."
ITB is taking place in Berlin from March 5th to March 7th, 2024.
