World tourism created 266m jobs in 2013: report

The tourism sector created 266 million jobs worldwide, in 2013, an increase of six million jobs over the previous year, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) revealed at the Jeddah Economic Forum (JEF)on Wednesday.

The sector’s contribution to the total GDP worldwide exceeded $7 trillion in 2013, up from $6.6 trillion in 2012, reflecting a continuous increase for the fourth consecutive year, according to a WTTC report released at the JEF.

The number of tourists increased five percent to reach 1.1 billion in 2013, and the WTTC forecasted an additional 4.3 percent increase in 2014, but urged governments to implement visa facilitations to sustain the growth.

The final session of the first day of the 2014 Jeddah Economic Forum focused on “Opportunities and Barriers for Growth and Job Creation in the Tourism and Transportation Sector.” Panelists discussed motives behind investment in tourism and job creation in Saudi Arabia, as well as competition facing internal tourism in the kingdom, whether on a regional or an international level.

According to the panelists, a shortage of tourism programs, incomplete infrastructure, poor facilities in some areas and low tourism awareness were among barriers facing Saudi Arabia’s internal tourism.