LONDON — Travel & Tourism is on the rise, says the World 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 world 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 world over the last five years. It is also the second-fastest growing sector in the world, 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.”