One in five of all new jobs created globally in 2017 are attributable to travel and tourism, according to new research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

WTTC’s annual Economic Impact Research shows that the industry was responsible for the creation of seven million new jobs worldwide. Overall, travel and tourism accounted for one in 10 jobs globally.

The report also showed that 2017 was a bumper year for the sector which grew at 4.6 per cent, 50 per cent faster than the global economy as a whole (three per cent growth during 2017). Travel and tourism also showed stronger growth than all other sectors, including manufacturing (4.2 per cent), retail and wholesale (3.4 per cent), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (2.6 per cent) and financial services (2.5 per cent).

Asian countries continue to drive global tourism growth, with North-east Asia growing at 7.4 per cent and South-east Asia at 6.7 per cent. China leads the way at 9.8 per cent.

WTTC projects that over the next 10 years over one third of absolute GDP growth and nearly half of employment growth will be generated by China and India.

Europe’s performance was better than previously expected with 4.8 per cent growth as longhaul demand recovered, accompanied by strong intra-regional travel thanks to the strength of the European economy.

Meanwhile, Latin America showed a decline of 1.4 per cent in tourism GDP, largely a result of a contraction in international spend to the largest Latin American economy, Brazil, of 18.1 per cent compared to 2016, and compounded by the ongoing political and economic problems in Venezuela.

Gloria Guevara, WTTC president and CEO, said: “2017 was the best year on record for the travel & tourism sector. We have seen increased spending as a result of growing consumer confidence, both domestically and internationally, recovery in markets in North Africa and Europe previously impacted by terrorism and continued outbound growth from China and India. This is great news for the millions of people who depend on our sector for their livelihoods.”

Last year, direct, travel & tourism’s indirect and induced impact accounted for US$8.3 trillion contribution to global GDP (10.4 per cent); 313 million jobs; US$1.5 trillion exports (6.5 per cent of total exports, 28.8 per cent of global services exports); and US$882 billion investment (4.5 per cent of total investment).

Forecasts for 2018 suggest that growth will continue, albeit at a slower rate than in 2017 as a result of higher oil prices.

As travel expenditure of Chinese tourists pick up, so too have mobile payments, with a recent survey showing 65 per cent of Chinese tourists using mobile payment platforms on their overseas travels, six times the number of non-Chinese tourists.

According to the Outbound Chinese Tourism and Consumption Trends: 2017 Survey, jointly issued by Nielsen and Alipay, Chinese tourists’ use of mobile payment during overseas trips saw greater increase compared to other payment methods compared to the last two years.

On their most recent trip abroad, 99 per cent of Chinese tourists sampled have the Alipay App installed on their phones and 63 per used Alipay for their transactions, the survey showed. While shopping was the most common expense for which Alipay was used, Chinese tourists also utilised it to pay for sightseeing, accommodations, dining, transportation and recreation.

Over 90 per cent might purchase more goods or services at certain overseas merchants if they are able to accept mobile payment, the survey further revealed.

The study identifies the habit of using mobile payments in China, convenience of use, and additional discounts gained by using such platforms as key factors for Chinese travellers’ use of mobile payment overseas, while limited merchant coverage overseas is cited as the biggest obstacle.

The importance of mobile payment adoption in the travel industry is accentuated with the report stating that Chinese tourists exhibit stronger retail spending power than non-Chinese tourists. The former spent an average of US$762 per person on shopping alone based on their most recent trip. Non-Chinese tourists spent an average of US$486.

On average, Chinese tourists surveyed visited 2.1 countries or regions in 2016-2017 and are expected to visit an average of 2.8 in 2018.

Japan and Taiwan have raced into the top five in a ranking of non-Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) destinations in Asia for Muslim travellers, the latest MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2018 shows.

Malaysia and Singapore retain pole position in their respective categories on the index, while Indonesia has risen to second place in the OIC category, sharing the spot with the UAE.

Following behind Singapore in the non-OIC ranking are Thailand and the UK. Japan and Taiwan entered the top five for the first time since GMTI was released, in fourth and fifth place respectively.

“We are now starting to see the impact of investment and commitment by destinations across the world into the Muslim travel market which is reaping rewards including a real shift in the rankings. The concerted efforts of destinations such as Indonesia, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan using data and insights from the previous GMTI reports have to be commended as they are now closing the gap,” said Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating and HalalTrip.

All 130 destinations in GMTI2018 were scored based on criteria including access, communications (destination marketing), environment and services. New metrics were added to this year’s index, though these were not named in the joint statement from MasterCard and CrescentRating.

“This year we have revamped the criteria to better reflect the growth strategies implemented by destinations to welcome Muslim travellers resulting in positive movement across the index,” Bahardeen said.

According to a joint statement by MasterCard and CrescentRating, the Muslim travel market is on course to reach US$220 billion in 2020. It is expected to grow a further US$80 billion to hit US$300 billion by 2026.

In 2017, there were an estimated 131 million Muslim visitor arrivals globally – up from 121 million in 2016 – and this is forecasted to grow to 156 million visitors by 2020, representing 10 per cent of the travel segment.