Despite a drop for obvious reasons in recent years, tourism is set to grow at a rate of 3% per annum in the years to come as long as the relevant governments play their cards right.
The World Travel and Tourism Council is confident that tourism on a global scale is on the rise. Whereas many countries are still struggling to come to terms with difficult economic times and many areas of the economy are fighting with each other, tourism is making great progress. As travel industry provides so many jobs, governments should be more than willing to support such a growth. Much of it is happening thanks to the emergence of nations such as China and India, where the newfound freedom of citizens to travel is finally bearing fruits.
Tourism is contributing to a higher GDP in most countries on a global scale. The emergence of BRIC countries and the tendency for the citizens of established developed nations to travel to new destinations are the main reasons. If improvements and growth continue at the current rate, then one in ten people should be employed in some field of tourism by 2021. There are, however, certain requirements for this to be achieved.
Firstly, odd events such as Icelandic volcanic ash clouds and tsunamis should be as rare as they were before the events of recent times. Avoiding an economic meltdown on a global scale would also be a good idea. On more simple terms, governments need to act upon reducing the burden of visas and other bureaucratically annoying obstacles when encouraging tourists to visit their country. For example, it is generally agreed that more travelers would arrive in Russia if it were not for a very time-consuming and expensive process of applying for the visa. India and China need to make sure that their policies towards inbound and outbound tourism remain lenient, within possibility.