The travel and tourism industry in China is substantially bigger than automotive manufacturing and supports almost as many jobs as the mining sector, according to a research undertaken by Oxford Economics for the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) sponsored by American Express. The research was released recently during a speech by David Scowsill, President and CEO, WTTC at the ‘International Tourism Industry Expo’ in Guangdong, China.
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The research shows that the sector’s direct contribution to China’s GDP is CNY 1.2 trillion which is 13 per cent more than the contribution to the GDP of automotive manufacturing and larger than communications services and the education sector. With 62 million direct, indirect and induced jobs in China, the travel and tourism supports more jobs than the financial service sector’s 48.5 million. The research also showed that travel and tourism industry’s contribution to GDP is growing faster than most other sectors in China. It will grow by more than nine per cent over the next ten years, a faster growth rate than the total economy (7.6 per cent).
The research highlights that travel and tourism is a significant source of exports for revenue for China. In 2011, visitor exports totalled over CNY 300 billion, which was 27 per cent of all service exports and two per cent of all exports (including goods and services).
Scowsill said, “These numbers are extremely significant. For over 20 years, the WTTC has spearheaded global and regional analysis of the economic impact of travel and tourism. WTTC has now taken this research one step further and assessed the role that travel and tourism plays in the economy of China in comparison to other economic sectors and also how this looks like on a regional level. Within our industry we have always known that travel and tourism is a vast contributor to economic growth and job creation. These figures bear out just how significant our industry is for China, especially at a time where China’s manufacturing index hit a nine-month low and as a result the economy shows signs of slowing, travel and tourism should be used as a stimulator for economic growth.”