Paris leads the way in travel and tourism recovery.

In the year In 2022, cities around the world began to make a real recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and that recovery was most visible in five prominent European urban centers.

Last year, as travel restrictions gradually lifted and demand for international travel returned, leading cities around the world saw significant growth in travel and tourism GDP, according to the latest Economic Impact of Cities report from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

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Globally, Paris leads the way with travel and tourism-related GDP of $36 billion, followed by Beijing at $33 billion and Orlando, Florida at $31 billion.

A total of 82 cities of the world were included in the study. It confirmed that the gross domestic product of all cities in 2019 was $734 billion. But in 2022, the gross domestic product for these 82 cities was $582 billion. Meanwhile, the expected 2032 GDP for the 82 cities is $1.1 trillion.

A total of five cities in Europe have been identified as economic powerhouses for 2022. Apart from Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid and Rome are leading the way for the continent.

The gross domestic product of London’s travel and tourism sector was estimated to be nearly $15 billion by 2022. In Berlin, the figure was $7.7 billion, and in Madrid, GDP reached more than $5.5 billion. Rome’s travel and tourism industry’s gross domestic product is projected to grow to nearly $7 billion by 2022, which is still 30 percent behind 2019 levels for the iconic Italian city.

“Three years after the outbreak … the recovery is well under way,” WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson said in the report’s executive summary.

Simpson added: “Travellers will return to Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid and Rome. “Business travel is constantly growing. And China’s reopening is bringing welcome visitors to cities across Europe. Tourists make a significant contribution to both the economy and job creation.”

Speaking of jobs, the report notes that travel and tourism-related employment is on track to return to 2019 levels in a few key cities, notably Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg and Chicago.

Apart from the top three cities studied, travel and tourism activities are increasing in all 82 urban centers. In the year In 2019, for example, direct travel and tourism jobs in cities accounted for 18.4 million jobs. Although this figure will drop to 15.7 million for 2022, the projected 2023 estimate is 25.2 million jobs.

Finally, the report notes that as tourism recovers, these popular urban centers may once again face one of the biggest challenges they had before the pandemic: congestion.

“There is a risk of overcrowding in some destinations,” the report said. Therefore, it is important for cities to have the right policies to solve the problem. Such policies should be issued before the problem comes to an end.

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