Leading global countries in the Travel & Tourism Development Index 2023

In 2023, the United States recorded the highest score in the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI), with 5.24 points out of seven. That year, Spain and Japan followed behind, with a TTDI score of 5.18 and 5.09, respectively. The Travel & Tourism Development Index analyzes a range of factors and policies supporting the development of the travel and tourism sector in a sustainable and resilient way. It covers 119 countries and is made up of five sub-indexes, addressing a series of relevant topics for the sector, such as safety and security, prioritization of travel and tourism, infrastructure, environmental sustainability, and more.

The economic contribution of travel and tourism

In 2023, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the global gross domestic product (GDP) was forecast to exceed nine trillion U.S. dollars, nearly catching up with the figure recorded in 2019, the year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the number of travel and tourism jobs worldwide was expected to surpass 300 million in 2023, also remaining slightly below pre-pandemic levels.

What is the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide?

In 2023, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide reached almost 1.3 billion. While this figure denoted a sharp annual increase, it did not catch up yet with the peak reported in 2019, when global inbound tourist arrivals totaled approximately 1.46 billion. Overall, both before and after the impact of the health crisis, Europe was the global region with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals.