The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has released a new report detailing the critical role the industry will have in the economic recovery in the Americas once the Covid-19 pandemic has passed. In its annual Economic Impact Report, the trade body argued tourism accounted for 8.8% of the total economy in the Americas last year.

Tourism was also responsible for approximately 45 million jobs, or 9.8% of their total workforce, the report stated. International visitor spend totalled USD 324 billion in the region, representing 7.3% of all exports.

Gloria Guevara, chief executive of WTTC said: “Our report shows how the economic recovery in the Americas depends greatly on tourism. Once this pandemic is at an end, producing new jobs and bringing business and leisure travellers back will encourage suppliers of all sizes to restore their efforts to meet the demand.”

According to the report, the Americas had a higher percentage of leisure travel, with 74%, compared to 26% for business travel. In terms of spending, the region also relies heavily on domestic funds. This money will be critical to the recovery, the WTTC argues, with 81% of tourism cash attributed to domestic spending versus 19% from international spending.