ETW Staff– Mumbai
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has announced that it will hold its 15th Global Summit in Madrid, Spain, on April 15-16, 2015. The summit will be hosted by Ministerio de Industria, Energíay Turismo del Gobierno de España; Comunidad de Madrid and Ayuntamiento de Madrid. This year the WTTC Global Summit will be held from April 24-25, 2014 in Hainan, China.
The venue of the next Global Summit 2015 was presented today in Madrid, with the attendance of David Scowsill, president and CEO, WTTC; Isabel Borrego, secretary of state of tourism, Government of Spain; Ignacio Gonzalez, president of Comunidad de Madrid and Ana Botella, mayor of Madrid.
David Scowsill, president and CEO, WTTC said, “The WTTC Global Summit is the most influential travel and tourism event of the year, bringing together around 700 leaders, to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing our industry today. Travel and tourism is a major generator of jobs and economic wealth globally, contributing nine per cent to global GDP and providing 1 in 11 of all jobs on the planet. The Global Summit will ask what more the public and private sectors can do to generate long-term sustainable growth in travel and tourism across the world.”
Spain is a major travel and tourism economy. According to WTTC data the contribution of the industry to Spain’s overall economy is US$161 billion – the seventh highest of any country in the world – and supports 2.7 million jobs. Similarly, UNWTO ranks Spain second in international tourism receipts, second to the US and third in terms of international arrivals.
2013 has been a historic year for Spain after receiving 60.6 million tourists, 5.6 per cent more than the previous year. These travellers spent 59,082 million euros, which means an increase of 9.6 per cent respect 2012. The contribution of the tourism sector to the country’s GDP was 10.9 per cent and represented 12 per cent of total employment.
Scowsill added, “I am pleased that Madrid has been chosen as the host for the 15th Global Summit in April 2015. It will be held in Europe for the first time since 2007, providing the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the economic and social importance of travel and tourism to consumers and governments in Europe and across the world. Spain is one of the largest travel and tourism economies in the world and hosting the Global Summit will enable its capital to showcase its tourism assets.”
