Results from the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) 2023 reveal the need for stakeholder collaboration to harness the T&T sector's transformative power.

The results are characterized by a mix of strong travel demand growth and persistent challenges such as increasing prices, labour shortages, supply-demand imbalances and an uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape. High-income economies, particularly in Europe and Asia-Pacific, continue to display some of the most favourable conditions for T&T development, benefiting from conducive business environments, dynamic labour markets, open travel policies, advanced ICT adoption, excellent transport and tourism infrastructure and rich natural, cultural and non-leisure attractions. Nevertheless, enabling conditions in developing countries are improving and if gaps in areas such as transport and tourist infrastructure can be narrowed, they will be increasingly able to leverage their natural and cultural resource to develop robust tourism economies that will drive economic growth. The interconnected nature of the index results, including the connections among price competitiveness, infrastructure, labour capacity, sustainability and demand growth, highlights the difficult job T&T decision-makers have when it comes to sector development.

Looking beyond the immediate challenges, the T&T sector must confront a global landscape that is defined by growing economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological risks. Given the sector’s increasing economic contribution, concerted action must be taken to harness the sector’s transformative power for environmental stewardship, socioeconomic progress, global connectivity and technological innovation. This will require the sector to become more sustainable, inclusive and resilient, focusing on areas such as the preservation of nature, putting local communities at the centre of development, increasing travel openness and ensuring the responsible and safe adoption of technology.

However, the execution of these principles to unlock the full potential of T&T as a source for positive change necessitates extensive collaboration among stakeholders, including both sector-specific and non-sector businesses, employees, governmental bodies such as tourism and environmental agencies at national and local levels, civil society groups and international organizations. Initiatives to better measure and consequently manage the impact of T&T on economic development, societal challenges such as equality and diversity, and the environmental consequences of T&T activity are promising but require stakeholder collaboration as well as employing technological innovations in AI
to unlock the full potential of data.