Travel and Tourism is one of the key sectors that play a pivotal role in any country’s economy and make a significant contribution to the country’s GDP. The global growth in travel and tourism activities has led to the rise of travel intermediaries, making them an important part of selling travel products to customers.
The global market size of the travel and tourism sector reached a value of $631 billion in 2021, with 45% contribution from the in-store sector and the remaining 55% from the online sector.
North America is the market leader in the travel and tourism sector with a 37% share, accounting for a value of $235 billion in 2021, out of which $89 billion is from the in-store segment where it has surpassed Asia-Pacific to become the new market leader. It is the market leader in the online segment as well with a 42% market share, almost two times the next biggest market.
The travel and tourism market in North America grew by 55% in 2021 after a fall of 53% in 2020 owing to the pandemic which forced people around the globe to spend most of their time at home due to the lockdowns.
Asia-Pacific is the second-largest player with a share of $164 billion accounting for 26% of the global market size. Asia-Pacific had the biggest impact of the pandemic as it lost $284 billion in 2020 thereby losing its dominance in the travel and tourism market as North America replaced it to become the new market leader in both in-store and online segments.
Asia-Pacific is followed by Europe making it the third-biggest market in the travel and tourism sector with $127 billion, with a share of 20%. Europe saw a growth of 16% in 2021. South & Central America is the fourth biggest market with a 13% share and the rest 3% comes from the Middle East and Africa.
The top three regions combined make up 83% of the global market size. Global travel and tourism witnessed a recovery in the demand in 2021 after the restrictions on travel were eased. South & Central America saw the biggest rise in demand with a growth of 131%.
Key travel destinations among travelers include Thailand, France, Dubai, Los Angeles, and Rio de Janeiro among others. Some major attractions which are highly popular among travelers include Burj Khalifa, The Great Wall of China, Niagara Falls, Sydney Opera House, Petra, the Eiffel Tower, and Kruger National Park.
The major companies with a strong presence in the global travel market include Topdeck Travel Ltd., Dufry AG, Skyscanner, Expedia, Kiwi.com, Hotwire, and South American Vacations among others.
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