Prior to the pandemic, the travel and tourism sector had been outpacing the global economy for almost a decade, with an annual average growth of 4.3 percent compared with 2.9 percent through 2019, and a contribution of nearly US$9.2 trillion to the global economy in the same year, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and JLL in the April report Destination 2030: Global cities’ readiness for sustainable tourism growth.

After the damaging disruption caused by the pandemic, the global travel and tourism sector is finally seeing signs of recovery. As the sector continues to evolve, the halt to international travel not only provided new challenges, but also the opportunity for policymakers, destination leaders and stakeholders to enhance the sector’s readiness.

The Destination 2030 report addresses what makes a city ready for sustainable travel and tourism. About 63 global cities were measured and categorised into one of five leve