WTTC – JLL New Report to Prepare Destinations for Tourism Growth

Photo Source: Destination 2030, WTTC

Looking to the future and aiming to keep abreast of the changing times, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) announced the launch of ‘Destination 2030’, the first comprehensive assessment of cities’ readiness for tourism growth.

The index examines the preparedness of 50 cities to address the challenges from future travel and tourism growth and provide solutions that foster sustainable growth in tourism activity.

The index comes on the back of the WTTC’s 2017 ‘Managing Overcrowding in Tourism Destinations’ report and offers city destinations looking to boost their travel and tourism industry or manage growth with strategic insight.

“Tourism authorities in many major cities around the world are working incredibly hard to prepare for the future. However, for a city to truly thrive and for travel and tourism to develop in a sustainable manner, city planning authorities, developers, investors, legislators and community groups, need to understand how prepared the city is for future expected growth in tourism and the resulting challenges and opportunities it may face,” said Gloria Guevara, WTTC president and CEO.

New York, USA

According to research, of the 1.4 billion global travelers in 2018, 45 percent are looking to visit cities. Furthermore, international arrivals to the 300 largest city destinations accounted for over half a billion trips last year.

The WTTC’s new index covers five areas based on level of readiness: Dawning Developers, Emerging Performers, Balanced Dynamics, Mature Performers, Managing Momentum, Highlights and Key Findings.

Source: Destination 2030, WTTC

Indicatively, Bogota, Cairo, Delhi, and Istanbul are to be found in the ‘Emerging Performers’ and ‘Dawning Developers’ categories, including countries with a lower level of urban readiness.

New York, London, Auckland, Berlin, Singapore, Beijing, Osaka and Hong Kong are in the ‘Mature Performers’ and ‘Balanced Dynamics’ categories as cities with an established urban readiness and tourism infrastructure, but not yet experiencing signs of tourism pressure.