Tourism in Italy is growing again and will soon exceed pre-pandemic levels, according to WTTC

Camping yes, but not only. According to all international forecasts, outdoor tourism is about to experience a great season, but in Italy it seems that the conditions are extremely positive for tourism in general and not just the open-air one. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the sector will provide a significant boost to the country’s economic recovery and could almost reach pre-pandemic levels next year, just 0.3% below 2019 levels.

The latest forecast in the WTTC’s Economic Impact Report (EIR) shows that the sector’s contribution to GDP could exceed 194 billion euros, with employment likely to return to levels of three years ago. The report also reveals that the Travel & Tourism sector will grow at an average annual rate of 2.5% over the next 10 years, five times the 0.5% growth rate of the overall Italian economy. By 2032 it should be worth over € 226 billion.

Half a million new jobs in 10 years

The forecast also reveals that Italy’s travel and tourism sector is expected to create more than half a million (533,000) jobs over the next decade. In 2022, the sector’s contribution to GDP is expected to grow by 8.7% to exceed € 176 billion, representing 9.6% of total GDP, while employment is set to grow by 2% to almost reach 2.7 million jobs.

“The pandemic was catastrophic for Italy’s Travel & Tourism sector, wiping billions from the economy as businesses collapsed, and thousands of people lost their jobs,” said Julia Simpson, WTTC President and CEO. “After two very difficult years, the outlook is now much brighter. Travel & Tourism’s projections provide a massive boost, not only to Italy’s overall economy, but to the creation of new jobs“.

In 2019, before the pandemic, travel and tourism were at their peak, with a total contribution to GDP of 10.6% (194.8 billion euros), while in 2020 they fell to 6.1% (102, 6 billion euros), with a deadweight loss of 47.3%. The industry also saw nearly 2.9 million jobs, before an almost complete suspension of international travel resulted in a loss of more than 400,000 (15.4%) positions, thus dropping to just over 2.4 million in 2020.

2021 saw the start of the recovery for the country’s travel and tourism sector. Last year, its contribution to GDP rose 58.5% year-on-year to reach € 162.6 billion, while employment in the sector grew 9.4% to exceed 2.6 million. of jobs.