The future of tourism: Embracing destination readiness for sustainable growth

The global travel and tourism industry is on the road to recovery and growth, thanks to lifting travel restrictions, strong pent-up demand and increasing confidence among travellers.

In this post-pandemic landscape, assessing destination readiness becomes crucial for tourism planners and investors.

It is also integral to the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI), which measures 117 economies on a range of tourism and travel-related indicators and policies, aligning with our real estate firm JLL’s research on destination readiness.

Destination readiness refers to how prepared a city or country is to effectively manage tourism growth and capitalize on travel and tourism opportunities. It is also critical for destinations focused on securing future development. An investor needs to know more than just market demand when making a major investment decision.

“Readiness” involves strategic, broad-based planning, infrastructure development, policy adaptation, proactive sustainability initiatives and measures supported by a community that embraces the benefit of a healthy tourism economy.

The TTDI serves as a benchmark, informing policy-makers and investors about where different tourism economies show strengths and areas for improvement and facilitating sustainable growth within the travel and tourism sector.

According to the World Trade Organization, international arrivals (overnight visitors) reached 97% of 2019 levels in the first quarter of 2024, reflecting an almost complete recovery of pre-pandemic numbers.

An estimated 285 million tourists travelled internationally in the first three months of 2024, about 20% more than in the same period of 2023. These results were boosted by continued strong demand, the opening of Asian markets, enhanced air connectivity and visa facilitation.

The Middle East has the highest recovery rates, while Europe is resilient through strong intra-regional travel.

While recovery is underway, challenges such as labour shortages and supply-demand imbalances persist. High-income economies in Europe and Asia-Pacific are well-positioned for tourism development due to their advanced infrastructure and abundant resources, while developing nations face unprecedented challenges.

Moreover, the report underscores the importance of leveraging travel and tourism to address global challenges, including economic inequality, environmental threats, technological innovation and global connectivity. The sector thus needs to be resilient, inclusive and sustainable.

As climate change and other risk factors persist, engagement around preparedness is extremely important. Having up-to-date information related to current and future risk areas is paramount to developing risk mitigation strategies and positioning the tourism industry as an influential advocate.

JLL’s research and Readiness Index supports these goals, emphasizing the significance of comprehensive readiness assessments to ensure destinations are prepared for the future.

Collaboration between the public, private and community sectors is crucial to positioning destinations for success. Traditional feasibility studies and market practices must be supplemented with inclusive engagement and strategic planning.

This approach looks like a dynamic, multi-faceted process that brings together diverse stakeholders to create a holistic vision for a destination’s future. Through inclusive engagement and strategic planning, destinations can uncover unique opportunities and address challenges that may not be apparent through conventional methods alone.

For instance, a coastal town might initially focus on expanding its beach tourism but through multistakeholder discussions, they could discover untapped potential in eco-tourism or cultural heritage experiences. These talks might reveal local environmental concerns or cultural sensitivities that traditional market analysis might overlook.

By fostering broad-based collaboration between tourism and other industries, destinations can maximize their potential and effectively adapt to the growth of tourism.

The Forum index identifies key dimensions for readiness, including:

Additional research supports these findings, highlighting the pivotal role of physical and digital infrastructure, policy frameworks that support industry growth, sustainable management of natural resources, and the significance of workforce development and community engagement for long-term success.

Tourism public sector leaders and private sector investors can refer to these pillars for insight and positioning of the tourism industry as an active participant in positively impacting the future.

The Forum’s robust Index creates an environment where readiness becomes a transformative strategy for tourism and investment.

By combining their strengths, destination officials and investors can chart a course towards a future of promise, sustainability and growth, as readiness partially depends on the direction taken, not just current status.

Destination readiness plays a critical role in the evolving landscape of global tourism. Understanding and harnessing these research insights guides those responsible for destination tourism and investors towards a future-oriented approach. The comprehensive readiness assessments can help unlock a destination’s potential.

The spider chart illustrates the Tourism Readiness Index results for the San Francisco Bay Area, comparing it to California averages.

The San Francisco Bay Area outperforms the state in scale, leisure, business, safety and security, and policy pillars, as indicated by the solid line exceeding the dotted line representing state averages.

However, the “urban readiness” pillar presents an opportunity for regional improvement. This analysis shows the strengths and areas for development in the Bay Area’s tourism sector, emphasizing the need to focus on tourism management, infrastructure enhancement and carrying capacity considerations.

For example, workforce development in San Francisco is a notable challenge identified by the Index and confirmed through extensive stakeholder engagement.

In response to this issue, a dedicated non-profit agency was discovered, focusing on transitional workforce development and proactive, intentional recruitment to identify and nurture future hospitality leaders and talent.

The tourism industry stands to benefit significantly from this initiative. Addressing this challenge could help the San Francisco Bay Area improve its position in the Index, moving towards a more balanced tourism typology.

This example underscores the value of the Tourism Readiness Index in not only identifying areas for improvement but also in guiding targeted solutions that can enhance a destination’s overall tourism readiness and competitiveness.

The alignment of the TTDI and JLL’s research indicates the importance of destination readiness to boost tourism and the gains it can bring. While the development index assesses countries collectively to rank them, JLL’s readiness index is more broad-based, setting the stage for future priorities and strategic planning.

Between both tools, nearly 100 data points are available to assess a country’s current and future status. While this may seem daunting, both indexes have carefully designed weighted approaches to aggregate the data and draw meaningful conclusions.

Our recommendation to all interested parties is to embrace “readiness” and thoroughly and continuously assess what influences and impacts a destination's readiness, which will unlock its potential for growth.