“ Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I feel honoured to welcome you all to the International Tourism and Investment Corporation (ITIC) Global Investment Summit in London from the 8 to the 9 November 2022.
Despite the World Bank warned that the world might be edging dangerously close to a recession in 2023, the future looks bright for the travel and tourism industry. The World Travel & Tourism Council has forecasted that the Asia-Pacific travel industry could fully recover by next year while the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) pointed out the strong signs of recovery with international tourist arrivals almost tripled from January to July 2022 (+172%) compared to the same period in 2021.
I would like to seize this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to the high-profile speakers and panellists who, during the ITIC Global Investment Summit, will unveil thoughtprovoking insights about new trends in sustainability, changes in customers’ behaviour that are affecting the ROI of hotels and the critical factors which are attracting investments in tourism, especially the right mix of incentives and conducive policies.
This continent has always been a land of untapped opportunities which only need to be unleashed. The time has come for us to trigger the impetus for a new start of Africa’s tourism industry.
The tourism industry has stood the test of time and showed outstanding resilience. Nowadays, with the growing concerns for environmental, social as well as good governance dimensions, investments in the tourism industry are undergoing a paradigm shift.
In this context, ITIC is acting as a facilitator by connecting tourism project owners/ developers from all over the world with the investors sharing a common vision of social inclusion and sustainability.
Next year, we plan to impart a new momentum to those interactions by promoting the investment opportunities of several tourism destinations through our conferences and summits with the ultimate objective of contributing to the betterment of society at large.
In this context, ITIC is acting as a facilitator by connecting tourism project owners/ developers from all over the world with the investors sharing a common vision of social inclusion and sustainability.
Lastly, I would like to thank Botswana, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Brazil for their recent sponsorship of our summit. We are thrilled to establish and nurture symbiotic working relationships with them. As sponsors, your contribution is vital to continue our important work. We cannot succeed without the generosity of supporters like you.
I wish all of you a very fruitful summit.
Yours sincerely, ”
Key Facts and Figures
- PRIOR TO PANDEMIC 10.3% GLOBAL GDP (USD 9.6 TRILLION) Following a lost of USD 4.9 in 2020, a decline of -50%, in 2021 post-pandemic contribution to global GDP increased by USD 1 TRILLION (+21.7% RISE) with a forecasted average annual growth of +5.8% compared to average Economy GDP average annual growth rate of +2.7%.
- 10.3 % OF ALL GLOBAL JOBS WITH 333 MILLION and 18.2 MILLION were recovered in 2021, representing an increase of 6.7% year-on-year and with a forecasted of 126mn new jobs from 2022 to 2032.
- Following a decrease of 47.4% in 2020 domestic visitor spending increased by 31.4% in 2021.
- Following a decrease of 69.7% in 2020, International visitor spending rose by 3.8% in 2021.
