Presentation made at the launch of the 2018 Tourism Trends and Policies by Alain Dupeyras, Head of Regional Development and Tourism, OECD. More information : http://www.oecd.org/cfe/tourism/

1. OECD TOURISM TRENDS
AND POLICIES 2018
Released 8 March 2018 - ITB Berlin
www.oecd.org/cfe/tourism/
Follow us on Twitter @OECD_LOCAL #OECDTourism

2. Tourism – a driver of economic growth
On average in the OECD, tourism directly contributes:
4.2%
of GDP
6.9%
of employment
21.7%
of services exports

3. Direct contribution of tourism in OECD-G20
economies
OECD average 6.9 %
OECD average 4.2 %

4. Recent trends – international arrivals
Public Affairs and Communications Directorate
1.2billion
Global international
tourist arrivals in 2016
+3.9%
arrivals
55%
of global
arrivals
WORLD
OECD Countries
Recent trends point
to continued growth,
with OECD countries
playing a prominent
role in the global
tourism economy.

5. Recent trends – international travel receipts
USD Billion
OECD
countries
account for
60%
of global
receipts

6. Relative importance of domestic and inbound
tourism varies by country

7. Sound and integrated policies are essential
Tourism policy priorities focus on improving competitiveness,
addressing seasonality of demand, and enhancing the quality and
appeal of the offer.
Recognise the value of strong dialogue between government,
industry, and civil society in the development, implementation and
monitoring phases.
Require long-term strategies that consider trade-offs and
synergies with related policy areas, and clearly identify the roles,
functions, and interactions of key stakeholders.

8. Tourism policies, strategies and plans
Italy, the Italian National Strategic Plan for
Tourism for 2017–2022.
Japan, the Japan Revitalization Strategy 2016
identifies tourism as one of ten key pillars.
Mexico, the National Development Plan 2013-
2018 recognises the importance of tourism for job
creation and heritage conservation.
Switzerland tourism plays a key role in the New
Regional Policy.
Hungary, four priority tourism areas have been
nominated.
Mexico, Zones for Sustainable Tourism
Development.
Slovenia, the country has been divided into four
macro-destinations for the development of tourism.
Sweden, five destinations participated in the
Sustainable Destination Development Initiative.
Regional and local
destination plans
National tourism
plans

9. Development and marketing of distinctive
products and destinations
Actions to develop and market distinctive products and
destinations include examples of regional and thematic
branding.
Many countries have established new offers and experiences
based on natural and cultural assets, for year-round growth
through the promotion of health and wellness tourism, business
tourism, events and various niche products.
Tourism policies recognise the increasingly important role of
digitalisation in creative and targeted communication and in
the handling and analysis of data.

10. Country examples – marketing and development
Ireland
Fáilte Ireland developed the
Wild Atlantic Way in 2014 as a
new experience, presenting the
West Coast of Ireland as a
compelling international
tourism product of scale and
singularity.
Poland
The House of Polish Tourism
brands will be a system which
coordinates tourism policies by
creating systematic and
comprehensive solutions for the
commercialisation and
internationalisation of Polish
tourism products.
Netherlands
The “HollandCity”
branding and marketing
strategy, is a recent
example of a collaborative
approach based on an
offer made up of a number
of small key cities.

11. A focus on digitalisation
Australia, 360◦ virtual campaign
Bulgaria, Integrated Tourist
Information System
Croatia, eVisitor central platform
for tourism data management
France, “Data Tourism” project
Spain, Smart Destinations Project
Several countries have specific plans
and programmes on
digitalisation in the tourism sector,
including Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Denmark, Italy, Korea, Mexico,
Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

12. Supporting a competitive, sustainable and
inclusive tourism industry
Action has been taken to improve connectivity and reduce barriers to travel,
while also addressing growing concerns about security.
Supply-side policies to improve competitiveness include investment
promotion and the simplification of business regulations.
The need to address labour and skills shortages in the sector is recognised as a
key issue.
Other priorities include the promotion of environmentally sustainable and
socially inclusive tourism growth.

13. Australia
Australia has progressed reforms to
streamline visitor visa processing in
key source markets. These include:
trialling a 10 year multiple entry
visitor visa for eligible Chinese
nationals.
Country examples – supporting competitiveness
Active programmes to
secure new routes, such as
Australia, Brazil, Greece,
Iceland, Israel and Malta.
Austria, Italy and Slovenia
have been pursuing
mobility projects based on
walking, cycling and the use
of public transport.

14. Strengthening business performance,
regulation, quality and investment
New quality service schemes have
been introduced in the Czech
Republic, Slovakia and Luxembourg.
France is taking action to modernise
its Qualité Tourisme label.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
Greece, new framework for tourism
legislation.
Japan, regulating private lodgings.
Malta, revisiting regulatory framework to
react and adapt to a rapidly changing sector.
Slovakia, study of regulatory impacts on
tourism businesses, especially SMEs,
leading to actions to reduce them.
Korea, Tour Card and Tax Refund
Automated System.
Latvia, reduced VAT on
accommodation

15. Investment opportunities to support green
innovation in tourism
ENERGY-EFFICIENT
TRANSITION
improving the
accommodation sector
WASTE
MANAGEMENT
increasing resource
efficiency.
BIODIVERSITY
maintaining ecosystems
CULTURAL
HERITAGE
offering opportunities for
continuation of traditions
WATER
MANAGEMENT
improving water efficiency
per guest

16. Challenges to greater investment and
financing for sustainable tourism
 Investment maturity
mismatch, transaction
costs, and lack of
necessary collateral for
financing small tourism
projects.
 Financing institutions fail
in the assessment of the
environmental risk.
 Lack of data on green
investments. Frameworks
could serve as a useful
benchmark to measure
sustainable consumption
and production.
 No sectoral breakdown
for tourism.
 Firms fail to account for
the impact of their
actions on the
environment.
 Policy should encourage
and incentivise
businesses to incorporate
environmental and social
impacts into their
investment decisions.
 Negative externalities are
not being adequately
considered, with
sometimes too much
environmentally negative
investment.
 Issues include :
fragmented climate
policies and presence of
weak governance.
LACK OF SUITABLE
FINANCE
INSTRUMENTS
INSUFFICIENT DATA
AND MEASUREMENT
LIMITED INCENTIVES
FOR SUSTAINABLE
PRACTICES
INADEQUATE
CO-ORDINATION
ACROSS
GOVERNMENT

17. Creating a coherent and sustainability-
friendly tourism investment environment
In Chile, the Foco Destino or
‘Target Destinations’
initiative intends to build
capacity of local managers in
order to boost selected
tourism destinations and
increase their
competitiveness and
sustainability.
In Sweden, an initiative
by the Swedish Agency for
Economic and Regional
Growth boosts sustainable
consumption and
production with a co-
ordinated approach
driving actions tailored to
the needs of participating
destinations and regions.
The Australian Trade
and Investment
Commission (Austrade)
offers advice and
facilitation services to
international and
domestic tourism
investors, including a
streamlined regulatory
process.

18. Policies to address the sustainable tourism
investment gap
Incorporate sustainability criteria into public financing
and investment supports, and encourage uptake of green
financing for tourism projects.
RESPONSIBLE
BUSINESS
PRACTICES
GREEN
FINANCE
DATA
CO-ORDINATION
Improve data and analysis on green finance and
investment in sustainable tourism development.
Build capacity and better co-ordinate actions across
different levels of government and policy areas.
Incentivise private investment in resource efficient
infrastructure, and encourage more responsible
business practices.

19. Key megatrends impacting tourism to 2040
WHAT ARE MEGATRENDS?
 large in scale and long-term
in nature
 unfold slowly and follow
relatively stable trajectories
 meaningful changes impacting
social, economic, political,
environmental and
technological issues
KEY MEGATRENDS IDENTIFIED
Evolving
Visitor
Demand
Sustainable
Tourism
Growth
Enabling
Technologies
Travel
Mobility

20. Megatrends shaping the future of tourism
Megatrends
• Modernising regulatory and legislative frameworks
• Cultivating partnerships with industry, other governments and key stakeholders
• Taking steps to future-proof tourism policyIMPLICATIONS
Global middle class
Ageing populations
Emerging generations
Emissions
Water resources
Food Production
Well being
Growth of passengers
Security
Natural disasters and
political instability
Digitalisation
Automation
Blockchain
Virtual and augmented reality

21. Policy responses - preparing for megatrends
Promoting a culture of improvement and future-
oriented thinking
Monitoring megatrends and long-term scenario
planning exercises
Modernising
regulatory
frameworks
Engage stakeholders in the development
and regular review of regulatory
frameworks
Cultivating
partnerships with
key stakeholders
The impacts of megatrends and the process
of policymaking are more crosscutting than
ever before
Taking steps to
future-proof
tourism policy

22. OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2018
OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2018 focuses on key
policy and governance reforms in tourism and provides
a global perspective with the inclusion of 49 OECD and
partner countries.
• This publication is undertaken in partnership with the
European Commission
• Data available on OECD.Stat
• The 2018 publication is now available on the OECD
iLibrary
• For more information:
www.oecd.org/cfe/tourism/
Peter.Haxton@oecd.org