He world tourism faces a new stage of growth, but also of transformation. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) projects that Travel and Tourism activity will grow 2.5% in 2026, a rate higher than expected for the global economy, in a context marked by changes in traveler habits, the advance of artificial intelligence and the pressure endured by some destinations.
The outlook is one of the main topics discussed at the 26th WTTC World Summit, which brings together more than 1,000 industry representatives, including more than 200 business and government leaders, in Malta.
The starting point is an industry that already has a relevant weight in the world economy. According to the WTTC, Travel and Tourism contributed US$11.6 trillion in 2025, equivalent to 9.8% of global GDP, and supported 366 million jobs, almost one in nine jobs in the world.
For Gloria Guevara, president and CEO of the WTTC, the growth of the sector takes on a particular dimension at a time when artificial intelligence begins to transform the labor market.
“In the last five years, one in three jobs created worldwide came from the travel and tourism sector,” he noted during the opening of the summit. Faced with concerns about how many jobs could disappear due to automation, he said tourism “is moving in the opposite direction,” he added.
The challenge, he added, will be to take advantage of this capacity to generate employment while the sector prepares its workers for the new skills that technology will demand, especially among young people.
World tourism faces a new stage of growth, but also of transformation.
One of the main changes will be in the travel experience itself. Artificial intelligence is already changing the way people search for information, compare destinations, design itineraries and make reservations, but for WTTC the transformation can go much further.
During the summit, Guevara presented a vision of “one traveler, one identity, a smooth journey”, supported by tools such as digital identity, biometrics and artificial intelligence.
The idea of so-called ‘seamless travel’ stems from a specific question about if a traveler can access maps and information from practically any place in the world in seconds, why do they still have to repeatedly go through identity checks and long lines during the same trip?
For the WTTC, technology can allow processes to be more agile without sacrificing security. Digital identity and biometrics, for example, could reduce repetitive steps at airports and borders, while AI can help personalize and make the experience more efficient.
Thus, competition between destinations will not depend only on their attractions. The entire travel experience – from searching and booking to entering the country and traveling within the destination – will also be part of that competition.
World tourism faces a new stage of growth, but also of transformation.
/ PERRY GRAHAM
The increase in tourist activity also poses a dilemma for the industry about how to receive more visitors without this growth ending up deteriorating what makes a destination attractive.
For this reason, another of the axes raised by Guevara is the management of destinations and tourist massification. The bet is that tourism is part of government planning so that growth does not only benefit visitors and companies, but also those who live in the places that receive tourists.
“We want this growth to benefit both the traveler and the people who live in our destinations,” he said.
World tourism faces a new stage of growth, but also of transformation.
/ PERRY GRAHAM
Along these same lines, sustainability appears as one of the industry’s priorities. The WTTC proposes advancing environmental and social initiatives, and circular economy principles that allow continued growth while reducing the environmental footprint and protecting natural and cultural heritage.
The challenge, therefore, changes scale. It is no longer simply a matter of attracting more visitors, but of determining how many a destination can receive, how to distribute them, what infrastructure it needs and how much economic and social value remains in local communities.
Artificial intelligence will need to advance alongside new job capabilities; Connectivity will have to be accompanied by adequate management of destinations; and tourism growth must consider both investment and its environmental and social effects.
Therefore, among the priorities identified by the WTTC also include crisis preparation, expanding connectivity, attracting and retaining talent, and creating policies that favor investment.
Guevara insisted that the private sector and governments will have to work together. Decisions about where to invest, how to use technology, how to develop talent and how to incorporate young people will end up defining the next stage of the industry.
“Restarting does not mean starting over. It means analyzing what has changed, questioning what is no longer working and defining what we want the future to be like,” he said.
And that future, for the WTTC, does not involve returning to the tourism of before. The bet is on a sector that continues to grow, but with more fluid trips, workers prepared for technological transformation and destinations capable of absorbing that growth without losing what makes them attractive.
