‘One in ten people are working in tourism’: What will shape the future of the industry?

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‘One in ten people are working in tourism’: What will shape the future of the industry?  Europe sends and receives some of the biggest tourist numbers on the planet. Collecting that behavioural data could revolutionise the industry, suggests the president of the World Tourism Forum Institute.   READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/01/12/one-in-ten-people-are-working-in-tourism-what-will-shape-the-future-of-the-industry  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00One in ten people in the street is working for the tourism industry.

00:04Tourism cannot be desirable without the local community.

00:08If you cannot keep your country secure, how will you make the tourism?

00:18Welcome to The Big Question, the series from Euronews

00:21where we speak to some of the most influential people in the world of business.

00:26And today is no different.

00:29I'm Angela Barnes and today I'm joined by Bilit Bajay,

00:33the president of the World Tourism Forum Institute.

00:37Thank you very much for joining us on the programme.

00:39Thank you very much for hosting me.

00:40Well, first of all, let's just set the scene.

00:42Can you talk us through how big the global tourism industry is today

00:47and how big a player Europe is in the sector?

00:52Yeah, actually tourism industry is now globally

00:55is holding almost 11% of total GDP and plus of this is almost holding 10% of all job creation.

01:06It means that one in ten people in the street is working for the tourism industry.

01:14In the Europe, the number is 10.5% contribution getting from the GDP.

01:2210.5% we cannot describe tourism after these numbers as an industry.

01:28So can you imagine that the one sector is blocking almost 11% of total world GDP?

01:36So for us, we are describing tourism as a macroeconomic infrastructure.

01:42And is it likely to, do you project it growing or declining?

01:46So it's growing, it's growing.

01:48There was a slightly decline on the COVID, but it's growing.

01:52I mean, when we look at numbers globally, even up to the last year, it grew up.

01:58Our forecast is almost it will grow again up to 10%.

02:01In three, four years, grow again 10%.

02:04Yeah, exactly.

02:11It's Europe's next phase of tourism growth about new destinations or smarter investments, would you say?

02:17Europe is one of the most tourist-sending destinations.

02:22Also, Europe is one of the most tourist-attracting destinations.

02:25Now, tourism is going to be reflected with AI, all the data, all the information and everything.

02:33And Europe is leading the way.

02:34So what Europe does, the others follow.

02:38After 2030, the most important thing, and the industry has to be focused, it has to be well done in the data management.

02:46If you know the data, if you know who is coming to your country, which destinations they visit,

02:51during that destination visit, which transfer they use.

02:54So we have to align all this data together.

02:58And can you imagine that when this data is merged?

03:00Tourism in Europe is in many parts oversaturated.

03:06We've seen protests against in many countries about that.

03:10What are your thoughts on that?

03:11Where do you still see real opportunities for growth?

03:15So, of course, opportunities come with some troubles.

03:19Some people and citizens don't want to over-tourism.

03:23The most important and the key thing is here, when the tourist is following a destination, how the authorities are managing it.

03:30It's not only for the economic impact, it's also the social and it's also the climate impact.

03:36So it's very important that when a destination is going to grow up, for the authorities to manage it with the local community.

03:46Because tourism cannot be desirable without the local community.

03:51And do you think there is enough investment to strike that balance at the moment?

03:56Of course, of course.

03:57I mean, the most important thing, what we look at, is safety.

04:00The second one is the connectivity.

04:02So these two is 50%, 50% is important.

04:07If there is a safety but there is no connectivity, it's very hard to get an attract investment.

04:12Or vice versa, Albania is a good example.

04:16In three, four years, it became a touristic destination on the international level.

04:19So it means that it's attracting also the investment.

04:23The people is around that regions are getting the jobs.

04:27SMEs are making the money through the tourists.

04:30So the flights are making the money.

04:32So everybody is getting the money around the tourism.

04:36And beyond Europe, where could increase investment in tourism be a real game changer?

04:42Me personally, I mean, the Asia and Africa is my personal interest.

04:46What we understand that in our trips, tourism not only for creating the jobs,

04:51also tourism is assisting for the countries, for the restructuring of the country.

04:56So without the roads, it means it's civilization.

04:59Without the logistics, you have the beautiful beaches but you don't have resorts or you don't have ports.

05:06So it means tourism is the Bible to attract more and more investments.

05:15When we come to Africa, I can easily say that Congo DRC, Angola, these two are leading the way in Africa.

05:25Because Angola specifically, they already did their infrastructure.

05:31So when the infrastructure is done, as an investor, it's easy to come.

05:35But what I see, Congo DRC, is the leadership, they are trying to develop their infrastructure.

05:45With this infrastructure, more and more investment will come.

05:48So especially when you come to Europe, and for my perspective as a hotel investor, hospitality investor,

05:55So I see Belgium also is a good opportunity because there are lots of shortages and lackness in the hospitality in Belgium.

06:06And then Belgium is keeping the biggest, because NATO is here, European Union is here, all the institutions are here.

06:14So it means that there are lots of potentials to build up.

06:17I'm picking up on safety, because at the moment government priorities and spending is very much focused on defence, security and technology.

06:26When it comes to investment, would you say that the tourism sector is on the back foot at the moment with government priorities?

06:32Yeah, actually, the government and authorities lead the way for the private sector.

06:38Of course, priorities are always change.

06:40I mean, as you said, now the focus is the defence, focus is the security.

06:45Also, this is the part of the tourism, because if you cannot keep your country secure, how will you make the tourism?

06:52It's impossible. It's part of the tourism and the first pillar to make the tourism build up.

06:57What other trends do you see shaping the tourism industry in the years to come?

07:01AI will be more integrated in the tourism industry.

07:05I mean, it starts with the technological internet of things, first of all, in the tourism industry.

07:10But now, where the AI will replace most of the things, thanks to God.

07:15Our industry is human-oriented, because the people are going there to get that service.

07:20So you cannot give the service feelings with the robots.

07:24Because the space tourism will be very, very, very interesting for everybody.

07:29The road is already open, and the competition has already started.

07:33After 2030, we will speak different things about the space, to creating the hotels in space,

07:38to creating the different accommodation services.

07:40Something like this will come very soon.

07:42Thank you very much for the conversation.

07:44It's been fantastic to get your insights.

07:46Thank you for joining us on the show.

07:47Thank you very much.

07:48It's been a pleasure.

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