Markets
Visualizing the Countries Most Reliant on Tourism
Visualizing the Countries Most Reliant on Tourism
Without a steady influx of tourism revenue, many countries could face severe economic damage.
As the global travel and tourism industry stalls, the spillover effects to global employment are wide-reaching. A total of 330 million jobs are supported by this industry around the world, and it contributes 10%, or $8.9 trillion to global GDP each year.
Today’s infographic uses data from the World Travel & Tourism Council, and it highlights the countries that depend the most on the travel and tourism industry according to employment—quantifying the scale that the industry contributes to the health of the global economy.
Ground Control
Worldwide, 44 countries rely on the travel and tourism industry for more than 15% of their total share of employment. Unsurprisingly, many of the countries suffering the most economic damage are island nations.
At the same time, data reveals the extent to which certain larger nations rely on tourism. In New Zealand, for example, 479,000 jobs are generated by the travel and tourism industry, while in Cambodia tourism contributes to 2.4 million jobs.
Rank | Country | T&T Share of Jobs (2019) | T&T Jobs (2019) | Population |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Antigua & Barbuda | 91% | 33,800 | 97,900 |
2 | Aruba | 84% | 35,000 | 106,800 |
3 | St. Lucia | 78% | 62,900 | 183,600 |
4 | US Virgin Islands | 69% | 28,800 | 104,400 |
5 | Macau | 66% | 253,700 | 649,300 |
6 | Maldives | 60% | 155,600 | 540,500 |
7 | St. Kitts & Nevis | 59% | 14,100 | 53,200 |
8 | British Virgin Islands | 54% | 5,500 | 30,200 |
9 | Bahamas | 52% | 103,900 | 393,200 |
10 | Anguilla | 51% | 3,800 | 15,000 |
11 | St. Vincent & the Grenadines | 45% | 19,900 | 110,900 |
12 | Seychelles | 44% | 20,600 | 98,300 |
13 | Grenada | 43% | 24,300 | 112,500 |
14 | Former Netherlands Antilles | 41% | 25,700 | 26,200 |
15 | Belize | 39% | 64,800 | 397,600 |
16 | Cape Verde | 39% | 98,300 | 556,000 |
17 | Dominica | 39% | 13,600 | 72,000 |
18 | Vanuatu | 36% | 29,000 | 307,100 |
19 | Barbados | 33% | 44,900 | 287,400 |
20 | Cayman Islands | 33% | 12,300 | 65,700 |
21 | Jamaica | 33% | 406,100 | 2,961,000 |
22 | Montenegro | 33% | 66,900 | 628,100 |
23 | Georgia | 28% | 488,200 | 3,989,000 |
24 | Cambodia | 26% | 2,371,100 | 16,719,000 |
25 | Fiji | 26% | 90,700 | 896,400 |
26 | Croatia | 25% | 383,400 | 4,105,000 |
27 | Philippines | 24% | 10,237,700 | 109,600,000 |
28 | Sao Tome and Principe | 23% | 14,500 | 219,200 |
29 | Bermuda | 23% | 7,800 | 62,300 |
30 | Albania | 22% | 254,300 | 2,880,000 |
31 | Iceland | 22% | 44,100 | 341,200 |
32 | Greece | 22% | 846,200 | 10,420,000 |
33 | Thailand | 21% | 8,054,600 | 69,800,000 |
34 | Malta | 21% | 52,800 | 441,500 |
35 | New Zealand | 20% | 479,400 | 4,822,000 |
36 | Lebanon | 19% | 434,200 | 6,825,000 |
37 | Mauritius | 19% | 104,200 | 1,272,000 |
38 | Portugal | 19% | 902,400 | 10,197,000 |
39 | Kiribati | 18% | 6,600 | 119,000 |
40 | Gambia | 18% | 129,600 | 2,417,000 |
41 | Jordan | 18% | 254,700 | 10,200,000 |
42 | Dominican Republic | 17% | 810,800 | 10,848,000 |
43 | Uruguay | 16% | 262,500 | 3,474,000 |
44 | Namibia | 15% | 114,600 | 2,541,000 |
Croatia, another tourist hotspot, is hoping to reopen in time for peak season—the country generated tourism revenues of $13B in 2019. With a population of over 4 million, travel and tourism contributes to 25% of its workforce.
How the 20 Largest Economies Stack Up
Tourist-centric countries remain the hardest hit from global travel bans, but the world’s biggest economies are also feeling the impact.
In Spain, tourism ranks as the third highest contributor to its economy. If lockdowns remain in place until September, it is projected to lose $68 billion (€62 billion) in revenues.
Rank | Country | Travel and Tourism, Contribution to GDP |
---|---|---|
1 | Mexico | 15.5% |
2 | Spain | 14.3% |
3 | Italy | 13.0% |
4 | Turkey | 11.3% |
5 | China | 11.3% |
6 | Australia | 10.8% |
7 | Saudi Arabia | 9.5% |
8 | Germany | 9.1% |
9 | United Kingdom | 9.0% |
10 | U.S. | 8.6% |
11 | France | 8.5% |
12 | Brazil | 7.7% |
13 | Switzerland | 7.6% |
14 | Japan | 7.0% |
15 | India | 6.8% |
16 | Canada | 6.3% |
17 | Netherlands | 5.7% |
18 | Indonesia | 5.7% |
19 | Russia | 5.0% |
20 | South Korea | 2.8% |
On the other hand, South Korea is impacted the least: just 2.8% of its GDP is reliant on tourism.
Travel, Interrupted
Which countries earn the most from the travel and tourism industry in absolute dollar terms?
Topping the list was the U.S., with tourism contributing over $1.8 trillion to its economy, or 8.6% of its GDP in 2019. The U.S. remains a global epicenter for COVID-19 cases, and details remain unconfirmed if the country will reopen to visitors before summer.
Meanwhile, the contribution of travel and tourism to China’s economy has more than doubled over the last decade, approaching $1.6 trillion. To help bolster economic activity, China and South Korea have eased restrictions by establishing a travel corridor.
As countries slowly reopen, other travel bubbles are beginning to make headway. For example, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have eased travel restrictions by creating an established travel zone. Australia and New Zealand have a similar arrangement on the horizon. These travel bubbles allow citizens from each country to travel within a given zone.
Of course, COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on employment and global economic activity with inconceivable outcomes. When the dust finally settles, could global tourism face a reckoning?
Markets
Will Tesla Lose Its Spot in the Magnificent Seven?
We visualize the recent performance of the Magnificent Seven stocks, uncovering a clear divergence between the group’s top and bottom names.
Will Tesla Lose Its Spot in the Magnificent Seven?
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
In this graphic, we visualize the year-to-date (YTD) performance of the “Magnificent Seven”, a leading group of U.S. tech stocks that gained prominence in 2023 as the replacement of FAANG stocks.
All figures are as of March 12, 2024, and are listed in the table below.
Rank | Company | YTD Change (%) |
---|---|---|
1 | Nvidia | 90.8 |
2 | Meta | 44.3 |
3 | Amazon | 16.9 |
4 | Microsoft | 12 |
5 | 0.2 | |
6 | Apple | -6.7 |
7 | Tesla | -28.5 |
From these numbers, we can see a clear divergence in performance across the group.
Nvidia and Meta Lead
Nvidia is the main hero of this show, setting new all-time highs seemingly every week. The chipmaker is currently the world’s third most valuable company, with a valuation of around $2.2 trillion. This puts it very close to Apple, which is currently valued at $2.7 trillion.
The second best performer of the Magnificent Seven has been Meta, which recently re-entered the trillion dollar club after falling out of favor in 2022. The company saw a massive one-day gain of $197 billion on Feb 2, 2024.
Apple and Tesla in the Red
Tesla has lost over a quarter of its value YTD as EV hype continues to fizzle out. Other pure play EV stocks like Rivian and Lucid are also down significantly in 2024.
Meanwhile, Apple shares have struggled due to weakening demand for its products in China, as well as the company’s lack of progress in the artificial intelligence (AI) space.
Investors may have also been disappointed to hear that Apple’s electric car project, which started a decade ago, has been scrapped.
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