Tourism is the world’s largest people-to-people industry, yet it remains one of the most politically overlooked. Despite contributing around 10% of global GDP and supporting one in ten jobs, tourism rarely influences decisions made by finance, education, foreign affairs or security ministries. It’s time to place tourism at the heart of government.
The world’s largest people-to-people industry contributes trillions to the global economy and connects nations like no other sector. Yet tourism remains politically underrepresented. Governments must stop treating tourism as a promotional activity and start recognizing it as a strategic pillar of national governance.
For centuries, tourism has been treated as a pleasant by-product of economic prosperity rather than as one of its principal drivers. Governments have traditionally viewed travel as an extension of culture, recreation or hospitality—a sector that promotes destinations, welcomes visitors and fills hotel rooms. It has been rewarded with dedicated ministries, tourism boards and promotional agencies, but rarely with genuine political influence.
This perception no longer reflects reality.
Travel and tourism today represent one of the world’s largest economic ecosystems, contributing around 10 percent of global GDP and supporting more than 350 million jobs worldwide—roughly one in every ten on the planet. It influences trade, investment, aviation, infrastructure, education, culture, diplomacy, environmental protection and technological innovation. More importantly, it remains one of the few global activities whose very purpose is to bring people, societies, and cultures together.
Yet despite this enormous reach, tourism continues to occupy a surprisingly modest place within government.
It remains one of the few major industries whose leaders are seldom present when the most important national decisions are made.
- Finance ministers determine tax policy without tourism representation.
- Foreign ministers negotiate visa agreements without tourism specialists at the table.
- Education ministries design curricula with little attention to tourism careers or cultural exchange.
- Interior ministries establish border procedures that directly shape visitor experiences.
- Security agencies develop travel policies without systematically considering their economic implications.
- Transport ministries make decisions that determine accessibility for millions of travelers.
- Tourism agencies are then expected to market whatever political decisions emerge.
No other industry of comparable size operates with so little influence over the policies that determine its success. This is not merely an administrative oversight.
It is a structural weakness in modern governance.
One of the reasons tourism remains politically underestimated is that governments continue to classify it incorrectly.
- Tourism is often grouped alongside leisure, hospitality or culture.
- In reality, tourism is none of these alone.
- It is an operating system connecting almost every function of government.
- Every visa policy affects tourism.
- Every aviation agreement affects tourism.
- Every investment in roads, railways and airports affects tourism.
- Every education policy influences the future tourism workforce.
- Every diplomatic dispute influences visitor confidence.
- Every environmental regulation shapes destination sustainability.
- Every public health policy affects international mobility.
- Every crisis communication strategy affects national reputation.
- Few sectors depend simultaneously on so many government portfolios.
- Manufacturing relies primarily on industry and trade.
- Agriculture depends largely on land, water and rural policy.
- Energy revolves around infrastructure and resources.
- Tourism touches virtually every ministry.
Its success is therefore never determined by tourism policy alone. It is determined by the quality of government as a whole.
Nearly every nation has a ministry, department or national authority responsible for tourism.
Their responsibilities generally include:
- marketing destinations;
- promoting international arrivals;
- supporting festivals and events;
- licensing tourism businesses;
- developing visitor strategies; and
- collecting tourism statistics.
All of these functions are important.
None, however, tourism places where it truly belongs—at the center of government. In most administrations, tourism enters discussions only after decisions have already been taken elsewhere.
- Finance ministries establish VAT and tourism taxes.
- Foreign affairs ministries negotiate bilateral agreements and visa regimes.
- Interior ministries determine border procedures.
- Transport ministries regulate aviation access.
- Health ministries establish travel protocols.
- Environment ministries determine protected areas.
- Labor ministries shape workforce regulations.
- Security agencies issue travel advisories.
Only afterwards is the tourism ministry asked to promote the destination.
This reactive model leaves tourism constantly adapting to policies designed without its perspective.
It is comparable to asking a country’s export industry to operate without consulting the trade ministry or expecting the automotive industry to function without discussions on transport infrastructure.
Tourism deserves far better.
One has too many? Why foreign affairs and tourism each deserve full-time minister | Daily FT
This isn’t a political critique. It’s a practical observation—one I make as someone who has worked in tourism for decades and has watched governments come and go, each trying to steer the country through different storms.
Right now, Sri Lanka has one individual serving as both Foreign Minister and Tourism Minister. On paper, this might seem efficient—one capable person across two important ..
Tourism is also unique because it is one of the very few industries that cannot function through government or business alone.
- Governments establish the legal framework.
- Businesses create the experience.
- Governments negotiate air service agreements.
- Airlines operate the routes.
- Governments issue visas.
- Hotels welcome the guests.
- Governments provide security.
- Private operators create attractions.
- Governments protect heritage.
- Communities bring destinations to life.
- Success depends entirely on partnership.
- Yet public and private interests often operate in parallel rather than together.
- Governments meet through national ministries and intergovernmental organizations.
The private sector pursues its own dialogue through trade associations, investment forums and industry conferences.
- Rarely are these conversations integrated into broader national policy.
- That disconnect represents one of tourism’s greatest missed opportunities.
- Unlike manufacturing or finance, tourism is fundamentally a partnership economy.
Its governance should reflect that reality.
If tourism is to become a strategic pillar of national policy, it also requires stronger mechanisms for cooperation at the international level.
UN Tourism
Governments already work together through UN Tourismwhich provides an intergovernmental platform for policy development, technical cooperation and sustainable tourism initiatives. Its role in fostering collaboration among nations remains indispensable.
World Travel and Tourism Council
The private sector, meanwhile, has its principal global voice through the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Over more than three decades, WTTC has consistently demonstrated tourism’s economic importance through authoritative research on employment, GDP, investment, and economic resilience. It has successfully advocated for policies that strengthen travel and tourism while bringing together many of the world’s leading travel companies.
These two institutions should not be viewed as parallel organizations pursuing separate agendas.
They should be regarded as complementary pillars of global tourism governance.
- UN Tourism represents governments.
- WTTC represents the industry.
Together, they reflect the two halves of an industry whose success depends entirely upon cooperation.
As governments increasingly recognize tourism as a strategic national priority, organizations such as WTTC could evolve beyond traditional advocacy to become genuine bridge builders between public policy and private enterprise.
Imagine regular strategic dialogues bringing together ministers of finance, foreign affairs, education, transport, security, and tourism alongside airline executives, hotel groups, cruise operators, technology companies, destination managers, and investors.
Such discussions would allow governments to understand, before legislation is introduced, how taxation, visa policy, aviation agreements, digital innovation, sustainability regulations, labor mobility, and infrastructure investment influence destination competitiveness.
Equally, they would enable the private sector to better appreciate governments’ responsibilities regarding national security, public health, environmental protection and fiscal stability.
Rather than lobbying from opposite sides of the table, governments and industry could begin designing policy together.
In such a model, WTTC would not merely advocate for tourism.
It would help shape better governance.
Its role would extend beyond economic promotion to facilitate cooperation during international crises, sharing best practices, encouraging long-term policy coordination and helping governments evaluate the tourism implications of decisions made across every ministry.
The industry has spent decades measuring tourism’s economic contribution. Perhaps the next decade should focus on strengthening tourism’s political contribution.
International relations are traditionally measured through treaties, trade agreements, military alliances and diplomatic negotiations.
Tourism represents another often-underestimated form of diplomacy.
- Every international visitor becomes an unofficial ambassador.
- Millions of people form lasting opinions about countries not through government statements or political speeches, but through personal experience.
- A welcoming border officer.
- A local guide.
- A family run restaurant.
- A museum.
- A sporting event.
- A conversation with a stranger.
These encounters shape perceptions far more powerful than official communications.