Beyond Tourism: Coordinated Pathways to Inclusive Prosperity

The report advocates for an 'ecosystem approach' to travel and tourism (T&T), moving away from siloed industry efforts toward coordinated action across five enablers: infrastructure, finance, technology, people/skills, and policy/governance. It highlights that while T&T is projected to contribute $16 trillion to global GDP by 2034, it faces critical tension points including resident-visitor friction, environmental degradation, and vulnerability to global shocks. Through case studies from destinations like Portugal, Costa Rica, and New Zealand, the document demonstrates how integrated planning and multistakeholder governance can balance economic growth with ecological and social sustainability.

• The global travel and tourism (T&T) sector is projected to grow significantly by 2034, expecting to serve approximately 30 billion tourist visits and contribute $16 trillion to global GDP, which would represent more than 11% of the global economy.
• The sector faces severe environmental pressures; in 2023, it was responsible for nearly 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, 6% of water use, and over 11% of air pollution.
• T&T functions as a 'sector of sectors' comprising three interconnected layers: core tourism companies, enabling sectors (such as ICT, financial services, and utilities), and adjacent sectors (including food and agriculture, healthcare, and arts and culture).
• Tourism generates a strong economic multiplier effect; globally, every $1 of direct T&T GDP generates over $2 in indirect and induced GDP, with this ratio exceeding $3 in tourism-centric economies like Fiji.
• The report identifies five critical 'enablers' that must be coordinated to transform sector challenges into opportunities: infrastructure, finance, technology and innovation, people and skills, and policy and governance.
• Portugal successfully reduced the geographic concentration of tourism by using interministerial committees to align airport, rail, and regional growth strategies, resulting in tourism receipts more than doubling between 2010 and 2019.
• New Zealand utilized an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy to fund conservation and community services, investing more than NZ$ 500 million ($290 million) into these areas.
• Costa Rica reversed national deforestation trends, increasing forest cover from below 30% in the 1980s to over 50% by 2021, by linking conservation to tourism through a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme.
• In Tanzania, Chumbe Island serves as a model for private management of protected areas, where eco-lodge revenues fully finance reef protection, mangrove restoration, and education for over 12,000 people.
• Indonesia improved its system resilience following the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing the 'InDOnesia CARE' programme and the Tourism Village (ADWI) programme, which expanded to over 3,400 villages by 2022.

APA

World Economic Forum (2025). Beyond Tourism: Coordinated Pathways to Inclusive Prosperity. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Beyond_Tourism_Coordinated_Pathways_to_Inclusive_Prosperity_2025.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Beyond Tourism: Coordinated Pathways to Inclusive Prosperity. 2025. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Beyond_Tourism_Coordinated_Pathways_to_Inclusive_Prosperity_2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Beyond Tourism: Coordinated Pathways to Inclusive Prosperity |date=November 2025 |url=https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Beyond_Tourism_Coordinated_Pathways_to_Inclusive_Prosperity_2025.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2025beyond, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Beyond Tourism: Coordinated Pathways to Inclusive Prosperity}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Beyond_Tourism_Coordinated_Pathways_to_Inclusive_Prosperity_2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }