Tourism, Organisations & Operators,

With some Disney magic and a very special pair of glasses, a bride’s dream of seeing the world in color became reality during her recent Disney Fairy Tale Wedding at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Bride-to-be Kristin Robinson of Harleysville, Pennsylvania heard about specialty glasses that allow the colorblind to see the world in color. Having been colorblind all her life, Robinson jumped at the chance to wear a pair of the glasses for the first time on her wedding day in The Most Magical Place on Earth. 
Robinson was elated when she saw the world and her groom, Nick, illuminated in color for the first time. 
“This is surreal,” said Kristin minutes after seeing color for the first time. “I’ve always dreamed of this; I finally get to see the colors.”

The color-reveal moment proved emotional for the entire Robinson family. The bride’s father and two brothers are also colorblind and joined her in wearing the special glasses for a heartfelt reveal where they not only saw the bride in color but were able to see the world in color for the first time, too. ADVERTISEMENTWhile color blindness affects people differently, Robinson’s deuteranopia is a common type of red-green color blindness. It prevents her from seeing colors like pink and purple and makes it difficult to see shades of red, green and brown. The team at Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons ensured that her wedding dazzled with color. Pink flower arrangements decorated the wedding pavilion. At Disney’s Wedding Pavilion, a picture-perfect view of Cinderella Castle against a vibrant blue sky provided a backdrop for the ceremony and the fairy-tale day concluded with a private reception and a glittering firework display. Robinson’s colorful wedding was nothing short of magical. 

About Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons
Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons is a global brand making dreams come true for over 30 years, offering epic destinations for weddings, vow renewals, honeymoons, engagements and anniversaries. A global industry leader providing fashion, jewelry and products as well as inspiration through a dedicated television series on Disney+, this brand is based on unmatched wedding planning services and the desire to make wedding dreams a reality. For more information, please visit DisneyWeddings.com

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The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has today revealed positive signs of recovery for the Asian Travel & Tourism sector, with five major metropolises seeing a significant economic rebound. The report, researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analysed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend in 82 cities from around the world.
There were five Asian cities amongst the top 25 whose Travel & Tourism sectors have the greatest impact on their local economies. 
According to the study, the highest performing Asian cities in 2022 were Bangkok, Beijing, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo.
Following continued border closures and strict travel restrictions, the report shows that in these major powerhouses, Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to GDP is recovering, albe-it at a slow pace.
Whilst it’s a slightly different picture for international visitor spending, all cities are starting to show signs of economic recovery thanks to overseas travellers spending once again. ADVERTISEMENTMost of the cities’ sector job levels are also increasing once again, with the exception of To-kyo, whose sector job market is recovering at a slower rate.
GDP contribution of Travel & Tourism sector slowly recovering
The WTTC’s Cities Economic Impact Report shows that in 2019, the Travel & Tourism sector contributed $106.9BN to the capitals of these five countries combined.
But the pandemic has had a damaging and long-lasting effect on the region with only Bei-jing recovering close to 2019 levels.
Beijing reigns supreme as the largest city destination in Asia, showing the strongest signs of recovery. In 2022, the GDP contribution from the sector was just 4% below 2019, at $32.6BN, thanks to a strong recovery of domestic tourism.
Tokyo has the next largest Travel & Tourism economy in the region, worth $18BN in 2022, but this is still 30% lower than in 2019.
In Seoul, the GDP contribution last year was $8BN, 33% lower than in 2019. 
In Singapore, the GDP contribution last year was 45% lower than in 2019.
In 2022, the sector’s GDP contribution to Bangkok was $9.2BN, 54% lower than in 2019. 
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “Asia has long been a world-favourite destina-tion and after more than two years of disruption, it is great to see tourists and business travellers heading back. Tourism provides a massive boost to both the economy and job creation.
“Our Cities Economic Impact Report shows that we expect Beijing to overtake Paris to be-come the world’s largest city Travel & Tourism economy within the next decade.
“It is crucial that the national and local governments continue to recognise the importance of Travel & Tourism for the local and national economies, jobs, and businesses.”
Jobs on the rise
In 2019 there were more than 3 million people employed by the Travel & Tourism sector across these five capital cities in Asia.
Beijing and Bangkok each employed the largest number of people, with more than 1.3 mil-lion employed in Beijing and just over one million in Bangkok respectively.
But by 2022, following two years of painful job losses, the total employed by the sector re-covered to 2.5 million jobs.
All cities had fewer sector jobs in 2022 than in 2019 however Tokyo continues to witness worrying year-on-year job losses.

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Research by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed that within the next decade, Beijing will overtake Paris to become the world’s largest Travel & Tourism city destination. The report, sponsored by Visa and researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, ana-lysed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP, employment and trav-eller spend.
But while long term the outlook for a number of Chinese cities looks positive, prolonged travel restrictions and border closures slowed down the recovery in the short term.
WTTC studied the impact of the Travel & Tourism sector in four major cities across China; Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shanghai and found a mixed picture across the four city destinations.
In all four cities the sector’s GDP contribution last year almost fully recovered back to 2019 levels.
The GDP contribution from the sector to Beijing and Chengdu’s economy in 2022 was just 4% and 2% below 2019 levels respectively ($34BN and $5.4BN), compared to $31BN and $5.5BN. ADVERTISEMENTLast year, the Travel & Tourism’s GDP contribution in Guangzhou and Shanghai was around 7% below 2019 levels. In Guangzhou the sector contributed $13.2BN in 2022 compared to $14.1BN pre-pandemic, while in Shanghai, the sector contributed $29.7BN compared to $31.5BN in 2019.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “China has long been a world-favourite holiday destination and after more than two years of disruption, it’s great to see tourists heading back. Tourists provide a massive boost to both the economy and job creation.
“It is crucial that the national and local governments continue to recognise the importance of Travel & Tourism for the local and national economies, jobs and businesses.”
Jobs on the rise
In 2019, there were 1.35MN people employed by the Travel & Tourism sector in Beijing. But in 2020 this figure dropped to 1.16MN (-15%). In 2021, employment grew by more than 5% and is expected to have grown a further 4% in 2022 to reach 1.27MN jobs.
In the other three cities, it’s a similar picture.
Before the pandemic, there were 1.32MN Travel & Tourism jobs in Shanghai, but this num-ber fell to 1.13MN in 2020 (-14%). A 10% rise in 2021 saw the number increase to 1.25MN and it was predicted to see a slight increase to 1.26MN in 2022.
In Guangzhou there were just over 603,000 jobs in 2019 but this dropped by 23% to just over 464,000. A slight 4% rise in 2021 saw jobs increase to just under 481,000 and WTTC is ex-pecting a 16.5% increase in 2022 to bring the total jobs to over 560,000.
Chengdu is seeing an even stronger return to pre-pandemic levels. In 2019 there were 336,000 jobs in the city which dropped by 12% to just under 297,000 in 2020. The following year saw a small 5% increase to 311,000 jobs and last year the global tourism body is pre-dicting a 6% increase to 329,500 jobs – just 2% below pre-pandemic levels.
Visitor spend struggles as borders have remained closed
Due to the prolonged border closures imposed by the government, international visitor spend is taking longer to recover than in other countries around the world.
But light is at the end of the tunnel. Whilst international visitor spend is still on average 53% lower in 2022 than it was in 2019, all of the cities analysed are showing modest year-on-year increases.
International visitor spend in Beijing is just 41% what it was in 2019, with visitors spending a predicted $5BN in 2022 compared to $12.1BN in 2019. In Chengdu, international visitor spend is performing better than the capital with recovery at 61% of 2019 levels. Travellers spent $1.5BN in Chengdu in 2022 compared to $2.5BN in 2019. 
Both Shanghai and Guangzhou have seen international visitor spend drop to 44% of 2019 levels. In Shanghai it went from $11.9BN before the pandemic to $5.2BN in 2022, while in Guangzhou it went from $4.3BN in 2019 to $1.9BN in 2022.

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PortAventura World has kicked off its longest season, which will last almost 300 days, with the expectation of exceeding 5.3 million visitors, after reaching 5.1 million in 2022The resort, which will hold its first Carnival for several consecutive weekends, inspired by the festivities in Rio de Janeiro and Venice, hopes to definitively win back international visitors this season, with estimates of up to one million French and half a million British and Irish visitors, and placing the focus on opening up to new international markets.
During the presentation of the season, David García, General Manager of PortAventura World, explained that “we are beginning this new season with much enthusiasm, energy and great news. After closing 2022 with 5.1 million visitors and record revenues, this year we are clearly committed to growth. As such, we are open every month of the year and we have continued to invest in the customer through new products such as Carnival and the new attraction that will open in spring”.
The early season has allowed the company to expand its workforce and generate up to half a thousand new hires, reaching a peak of 3,800 active employees at key times of the season with campaigns such as the resort’s first Carnival, Easter, Halloween and Christmas.
Likewise, in 2023, the company will continue to grow sustainably moving outward, reinforcing its strategy of innovation and diversification. The company, which in 2022 acquired and began to manage two hotels outside the resort, has announced that it will continue to focus on growth in this new line.
One of PortAventura World’s major novelties in the first half of 2023 will be the opening of the world’s first dark ride roller coaster ‘Uncharted’, developed in partnership with Sony Entertainment and with an investment of more than 25 million euros. As part of the creation of this new attraction, the company is preparing a pilot project for an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experience for people with disabilities, with the aim of spearheading change in how these customers experience the park.ADVERTISEMENTAlso in the ESG area, PortAventura World will continue to drive forward its sustainability commitments. In this regard, it will inaugurate its photovoltaic plant, PortAventura Solar, which will cover a third of the resort’s energy needs.
Video – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2005076/PortAventura_World.mp4

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The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has today (15/02/2023) revealed positive signs of recovery for the South African Travel & Tourism sector with travellers heading back to its major cities.The report, researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analysed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend.The results show travellers are returning to cities such as Cape Town and Johannesburg with all indicators bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels.
The WTTC Cities Economic Impact Report shows that in 2019, the Travel & Tourism sector contributed over $2.5BN to Cape Town’s economy and more than $2.1BN to Johannes-burg’s.However, the pandemic devastated the country’s economy. In 2020, both cities Travel & Tourism’s GDP contribution dropped by more than half, falling to $1BN.But light is at the end of the tunnel. Over the last two years, since the border reopened, both cities have witnessed a significant recovery.
In 2022, Cape Town’s sector is expected to have grown to $1.8BN, 28% lower than 2019 lev-els, while Johannesburg’s Travel & Tourism’s sector is forecast to be worth just over $2.2BN, 4% above 2019 levels.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “South Africa has long been a world-favourite destination and after more than two years of disruption, it’s great to see tourists heading back. Tourism provides a massive boost to both the economy and job creation.“It is crucial that the national and local governments continue to recognise the importance of Travel & Tourism for the local and national economies, jobs, and businesses.”Jobs on the rise
In 2019 there were more than 170,000 people employed by the Travel & Tourism sector in Cape Town. In 2020 this figure dropped to just over 117,000 (-32%). But in 2021, employ-ment grew by 8% to 127,000 jobs and is expected to have grown at a two and a half times that rate in 2022, to reach more than 152,000 jobs.ADVERTISEMENTIn Johannesburg, it’s a similar picture.
Before the pandemic, there were over 138,000 Travel & Tourism jobs, but this number fell by 28,000 to just over 110,000 in 2020. A 10% rise in 2021 saw the number increase to more than 120,000.
WTTC is forecasting jobs to grow three times as fast in 2022 to reach more than 156,000 jobs 11.5% more jobs than pre-pandemic levels.
The report also shows that the sector’s contribution to both cities will increase by more than $2.25BN over the next decade.
According to the global tourism body’s forecast, Cape Town’s Travel & Tourism sector is expected to contribute over $3.3BN, while Johannesburg’s will provide a boost of almost $800MN by 2032 to reach just under $3BN annually

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A new report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed strong signs of recovery of the economic impact from Travel & Tourism in the five city ‘powerhouses’ of Western Europe.The Cities Economic Impact Report, sponsored by Visa and researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analysed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend. The study examined the impact of the sector in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Madrid.
The report from the global tourism body shows that in 2019, the Travel & Tourism sector contributed over $83.5BN to the economies of the five European capitals, and last year was just 15% below 2019 at almost $71BN.
Paris has shown the strongest recovery of the five capital cities with the other four being 18% to 30% below 2019, demonstrating slightly slower recoveries than the French capital. In Paris, the sector GDP contribution was $38BN in 2019 but in 2022 it recovered to just 6% below pre-pandemic levels at an estimated $35.7BN.
Although the sector’s GDP contribution to London was worth almost $15BN in 2022, it is slightly behind Berlin in terms of recovery to 2019 levels. The German capital’s contribution to the city’s economy was worth over $7.7BN in 2022, 18% below 2019.Madrid’s GDP contribution was more than $5.5BN in 2022, 24% below 2019, however Rome is witnessing the slowest recovery – 30% below 2019 levels with a sector contribution of al-most $7BN.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “Travellers are flocking back to Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid, and Rome. Business travel is growing steadily. And China’s reopening is bringing welcome visitors to cities across Europe. Tourists provide a massive boost to both the economy and job creation.ADVERTISEMENT“It is crucial that the national and local governments continue to recognise the importance of Travel & Tourism for the local and national economies, jobs, and businesses.”
Jobs on the rise
Just before the pandemic there were over 976,000 jobs in Travel & Tourism across the five cities.
In 2020, job numbers in the five capitals fell by 41% to just over 580,000 jobs. The following year, job numbers rose by 13% to 654,000, and last year job numbers rose again by a further 23% to reach 807,000, just 17% below the combined total in 2019.Paris currently has the largest job market in Travel & Tourism of the five capitals with almost 322,000 jobs.

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The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is delighted to announce the start of a new collaboration with Visa to extend the Tourism Destination Resilience (TDR) Programme and continue to help build a more resilient and sustainable tourism industry.The COVID-19 pandemic has painfully proven the importance for destinations to be prepared for challenges and potential crises, and to know how to adapt to changes.
The partnership with Visa focuses specifically on building the capacity of two crucial but often overlooked travel and tourism stakeholders, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and informal workers. For SMEs, PATA and Visa will produce two new online learning modules, focusing on improving financial literacy, and digital competency and cybersecurity. The new courses will be added to PATA’s existing TDR Course and, as with the other modules, will be available to the public in six languages: English, Vietnamese, Bahasa Indonesia, Khmer, Thai, and Mandarin Chinese.
Apart from the online modules, PATA and Visa will also conduct in-person training for SMEs, which will take place in the second half of the year in four destinations: Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
According to PATA Chair Peter Semone, “SMEs make up 80% of all tourism businesses. As we future-proof our destinations, SMEs also need to build resilience. In this sense, greater digital literacy and financial knowledge are imperative for learning how to adapt to the new era of tourism and prepare for future challenges that may arise.For informal workers working in the travel and tourism industry, the collaboration seeks to empower these professionals by helping build their capacity not only on digital and financial skills but also health and safety, marketing and communication, as well as other topics that may be identified during a needs analysis. For the latter part of the project, the implementation will take place in Indonesia.
Informal workers make up a majority of tourism employment and provide entrepreneurial opportunities for women, youth, and the elderly. However, lacking formal government registration, they often fall through the cracks of social protection and employment benefit schemes in times of crisis.ADVERTISEMENTAbout the partnership, Patsian Low, Vice President of Inclusive Impact & Sustainability for Asia Pacific at Visa, said, “Visa is proud to provide digital literacy and financial education to the thousands of small and micro businesses and informal workers, such as walking guides, transport drivers or translators, who are the backbone of the tourism industry in our region. As travel and tourism continues to accelerate post-COVID-19, our partnership with PATA will help enable individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive and deliver on our purpose to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.”
Pavnesh Kumar, PATA’s Sustainability and Social Responsibility Programme Head, adds that “This partnership will not only allow us to expand the impacts of Tourism Destination Resilience within destinations but also target the two groups who most often lack support in the industry. We are looking forward to working with Visa and our country partners to build the capacity of SMEs and informal workers.”More information on these new initiatives by PATA and Visa will be announced soon. For any queries, please contact [email protected]

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The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has today revealed positive signs of recovery for the Indian Travel & Tourism sector with travellers heading back to its major cities.The report, sponsored by Visa and researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analysed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend.
The analysis of key indicators in Delhi and Mumbai shows that Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to both cities’ GDP, jobs and visitor spending are all bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels.
The WTTC Cities Economic Impact Report shows that in 2019, the city’s Travel & Tourism sector contributed almost ₹36,200 crore to Delhi’s economy and more than ₹25,000 crore to Mumbai’s.
But the pandemic then had a damaging effect on India’s national economy as the border closed to overseas visitors.
In 2020, both cities Travel & Tourism’s GDP contribution dropped by almost half, falling to ₹19,000 crore in Delhi, and more than ₹13,500 crore in Mumbai.ADVERTISEMENTOver the last two years, since the border reopened, both cities have witnessed a significant recovery.
In 2022, Delhi’s sector is expected to have grown to ₹32,400 crore, while Mumbai Travel & Tourism’s sector is forecast to be worth just under ₹22,500 crore, just 10% below 2019 levels.
Jobs on the rise
In 2019 there were more than 10 lakh people employed by the Travel & Tourism sector in Delhi. In 2020 this figure dropped to just over 6.6 lakh (-35%). But in 2021, employment grew by more than 12% and is expected to have grown at a similar rate in 2022 to reach more than 8.4 lakh in 2022.
In Mumbai, it’s a similar picture.
Before the pandemic, there were almost 3.6 lakh Travel & Tourism jobs, but this number fell by over 1 lakh to just over 2.4 lakh 2020. An 11% rise in 2021 saw the number increase to almost 2.7 lakh.
WTTC is forecasting a similar growth in 2022 to reach more than 3 lakh jobs – just 15% below pre-pandemic levels.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “India is an increasingly popular global tourist destination and following more than two years of disruption, it’s great to see tourists are heading to the country once again.
“Our recent Economic Impact Research showed that we expect India to overtake Germany to become the world’s third most powerful Travel & Tourism market by 2032, and that its sector will outpace the overall economy every year for the next decade.
“But it’s crucial that the government and local decision makers in individual cities continue to recognise the economic importance of Travel & Tourism for the local and national economies, jobs and businesses.”
The report also shows that the sector’s contribution to both cities’ will more than double over the next decade. According to the WTTC forecast, Delhi’s Travel & Tourism sector is expected to contribute almost ₹80,000crore, while Mumbai’s will provide an annual boost of more than ₹54,000 crore by 2032.

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