Current Trends in Global Tourism Industry

Question: Discuss about the Current Trends in Global Tourism Industry. Answer: Introduction: Tourism has off lately become the fastest growing industry and also a primary source of foreign exchange earnings and employment for many countries. It is considered to be the forerunner of growth specifically after the same has been able to generate various employment opportunities both direct and indirect to the people across the globe. Any industry which contributes in removing the issue of unemployment is welcomed in todays scenario as it is a sign of economic development. The paper highlights the role of the tourism industry as an efficient generator of both direct and indirect employment. As stated the spending of the foreign tourists within a country has a long lasting implication on the sector (Prasad, Kulshreshtha, 2015). However the said industry has become a part and parcel of the hospitality segment thus coming way forward from the traditional concept of relating hospitality to only hotel industry. The opportunities for career growth is vast as the hospitality segment ha s a wide array of jobs to offer thus a person can easily switch from one career path to the other as the segment includes within itself hotel management, travel and tourism, casino management and the food and beverage industry as well. The urge to travel has ensured that the said segment become the number one industry for many countries across the globe and the USA is one of them which portrays the tourism sector as the largest service sector. It helps to produce a positive trade balance for the economy of the country thus emerging as one of the largest employers which provides employment to people at various levels depending on their expertise. As per the Travel Industry Association (TIA), the foreign travellers who travel to U.S. spend around $107.9 billion each year and outside the country, the Americans splurge $99.6 billion on tourism. The said industry has been a major contributor to the state and federal revenues as well contributing up to $110 billion in tax revenues. Apart from the revenue it generates for the government entities, the said industry has been named as the largest employer which provides nothing less than $7.9 million jobs and spends $178 billion in direct-travel related payroll. Within the next three years, tourism will become the largest industry in the world. Presently it is the third largest retail industry after automotive and food products in USA (Delener, 2010). The trends prove that the travel industry is expected to see a growth rate of around 5% on a yearly basis on a global basis and by approximately 2% annually in USA. The present trend is seen inclining towards geotourism wherein people prefer to travel to those places which has a better environment, culture and heritage to speak about. The same is being seen within the Americans as well who nowadays are seen to be keen on going to more remote and different locations which has much to talk about history, cultural heritage as well as has propounding scenic beauty. As per a study conducted by TIA and National Geographic Travellers it is understood that 55.1 million American travellers are categorised as geotourists. One can also view a shift in the generation wherein it is expected that by 2020 there would an ageing population of 700 million across the globe. For them travelling is a top priority as they prefer to enjoy their life after working for years in the past and saving money to enjoy. Thus the present trend has shifted from the traditional simple family reunion travel plans to more exciting and leisure related travel. Exploring uncommon plac es along with the shift in the generation who prefer travel more is the crux of the growing trends in the US travel industry. Tourism industry has been able to create employment both directly as well as indirectly thus is rightly called a labour intensive industry. Direct employment connotes opportunities given by hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, tourist information offices, photographers, monuments, airline, guides, cooks and many more. It also provides employment indirectly in the form of the suppliers who give supplies in the restaurants and hotels, construction segment who build various monuments, handicraft manufacturers, accounting services and all those industries which are related to the development of the tourism industry. The US tourism industry created direct employment for 5.3 million job seekers in the year 2014 which out grew the automotive industry by six times and contributed to 8 percent of the national GDP. Further to this data if the indirect and induced employment that tourism offers is added then the number jumps to 13.7 million or around nine percent of the total employment of U.S.A. Indirect employment basically caters to the travel industry supply chain that provides various support services to the travel corporates such as providing high end technology which helps to get quick access to data and relevant information and manufacturers of linen as well. Whereas, induced impact comprises of the value fo the employee of the travel industry who spend locally(Oates, 2015), thus since more and more people are employed they are able to spend on the products being produced locally. The employment that this industry provides is more than the one provided by agriculture, automotive, education, ban king and chemical segments of U.S. The future of this industry is very bright due to the uncontrollable desire of the people to travel and explore the world has been seen increasing at a faster pace. As per the recent data published by the World Travel and Tourism Council, this sector contributes for eight percent of the total job across the world and has the maximum amount of growth potential. It provides a whole gamut of opportunity to those students who enjoy to travel and interact with people. The industry is highly competitive and hence it demands that those who want to pursue a career in this sector should be innovative and be able to develop good communication skills as well. American students are seen to enrol themselves with the community colleges who train them to move ahead in this field with success (Williams, 2015). Lastly it is understood that the current year would show robust growth but for such corporates who have a vision towards innovation. The future is bright only if points such as authenticity of the consumers as well as giving a personal touch to the preferences of the customers are paid heed to. Technology is another area where the future depends. AI, IoT and various mobile applications help to increase the experience of the customers as well (Francis, 2015). Conclusion Thus on a concluding note, it is understood that USA is one of the most benefitted countries across the globe due to the boost the tourism and the hospitality industry has witnessed over the last decade. The travel companies and organizations have an occasion to conceptualise their trade names, The future demands these entities to change their view point of dealing with customers by increasing their awareness about the demands of the customers. Thus it is rightly stated that tourism is one of the most promising sector for generating employment both direct as well as indirect and the said industry is the least expected one to face recession. References: Delener,N., (2010), Current trends in the global tourism industry: evidence from the United States, Available at https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttextpid=S0034-76122010000500006 (Accessed 14th March 2017) Francis,J., (2015), Travel Trends and Predictions, Available at https://www.responsibletravel.com/resources/future-of-tourism/travel-trends.htm (Accessed 14th March 2017) Oates,G., (2015), New WTTC Report Shows the Tourism Industrys Impact on U.S. Jobs, Available at https://skift.com/2015/08/12/new-wttc-report-shows-tourisms-impact-on-u-s-jobs/ (Accessed 14th April 2017) Prasad,N., Kulshreshtha,M., (2015), Employment generation in tourism industry : an input-output analysis, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 58, no.4, pp. 563-575 Williams,L.L., (2015), Is a Career in Hospitality and Tourism in Your Future, Available at https://www.internationalstudentguidetotheusa.com/articles/is-a-career-in-hospitality-and-tourism-in-your-future.htm (Accessed 14th April 2017)