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Industry outlook
The next ten years belong to this region
Southeast Asia is where the world's travel growth is going to land, and the jobs are going with it.
Travel and tourism is forecast to reach 11.5% of global GDP by 2035. The majority of the new jobs are expected in the Asia Pacific.
The World Travel and Tourism Council puts the sector's contribution to the global economy at US$11.7 trillion in 2025, and forecasts US$16.5 trillion by 2035, or 11.5% of global GDP. That is a decade of roughly 3.5% annual growth against 2.5% for the wider economy.
The part that matters for anyone reading this from Singapore is where the work goes. WTTC expects the sector to support one job in eight worldwide by 2035, adding 91 million new roles over the decade, with the majority in the Asia Pacific. One in three new jobs created anywhere in the world is expected to be supported by this sector.
Singapore's own numbers point the same way. The Singapore Tourism Board reported 16.9 million international visitors in 2025 and record tourism receipts of S$32.8 billion, with China, Indonesia and Australia the largest spending markets. STB forecasts 17 to 18 million visitors in 2026 and S$31.0 to S$32.5 billion in receipts, describing the projection as measured given global uncertainty.
The government has put money behind the trajectory: S$740 million over five years towards the Tourism 2040 strategy. Hotel occupancy averaged 81.9% in 2025 with an average room rate of S$273.56, and cruise throughput passed two million passengers on 375 ship calls.
None of this is a promise about any individual's career. Sector growth is not the same as personal advancement, and a rising market does not by itself make anyone employable. What it does mean is that the demand side is not the constraint. The constraint is people who can read a cost base, price a channel and hold a service concept together when the market is soft.
The growth is regional and sustained, and it is the reason this programme is built around commercial skills.
Sources
- WTTC, Economic Impact Research 2025
- WTTC, Global travel and tourism is strong despite economic headwinds
- Singapore Tourism Board, tourism performance 2025
Figures are quoted from the organisations named above and were current at the time of writing. Cairnhill Institute is not the source of this data and does not present it as a forecast of any individual outcome.