LONDON — Travel & Tourism is on the rise, says the ***** Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), increasing by 3.9% in 2018.

This increase contributed to a record $8.8 trillion as well as 319 million jobs to the ***** economy in 2018. According to WTTC, the growth rate of the Travel & Tourism sector was faster than the global economy for the eighth consecutive year (3.9% vs. 3.2%).

Travel & Tourism also generated 10.4% of all global economic activity last year, and was responsible for one in five of all new jobs created in the ***** over the last five years. It is also the second-fastest growing sector in the *****, ahead of Healthcare (+3.1%); Information Technology (+1.7%), and Financial Services (+1.7%), behind only Manufacturing, which grew by 4%.

Moreover, the sector increased its share of leisure spending to 78.5% (from 77.5% in 2017), meaning 21.5% (22.5% in 2017) of spending was on business. It also increased its share of spending from international tourists to 28.8%, up from 27.3% in 2017, meaning that 71.2% of spending came from domestic tourists.

On the growth seen last year, Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: “2018 was another year of strong growth for the global Travel & Tourism sector, reinforcing its role as a driver of economic growth and job creation…Yet again, this proves the power of Travel & Tourism as a tool for governments to generate prosperity while creating jobs which particularly support women, youth and other often marginalized groups of society.”