A study by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) shows that the European sector’s contribution to GDP is forecast to grow by less than a quarter at 23.9% in 2021, compared with an overall global growth rate of 30.7% for this year.
WTTC also found employment levels remain “stagnant” across Europe’s travel sector, although international tourism spending is expected to rebound by nearly 80% in 2022, due to the successful Covid vaccination programmes across the continent.
The relatively sluggish recovery for European tourism is being put down to travel restrictions holding back the sector, particularly during the first half of 2021.
Julia Simpson, WTTC’s chief executive, said: “Our research shows that while the European travel and tourism sector is slowly beginning to recover, there is still a long way to go.
“With many European countries’ borders now open to international travel for fully vaccinated travellers, the region’s economic recovery will be accelerated next year.
“This could restore millions of jobs and livelihoods which rely on a thriving travel and tourism sector. We need governments to replace the patchwork of restrictions with a set of harmonised rules for travel.”
WTTC said that a surge in domestic travel in Europe has “provided some relief” in 2021, but it was not enough to “achieve the full recovery the region needs to salvage Europe’s economy and millions of jobs”.
The research predicts domestic tourism spending in Europe will rise by 27.7% in 2022, while international spending is set to rebound by 77.2% year-on-year.
