Economic growth has traditionally been linked to the secondary or industrial sector, but more and more states have adopted models in which tourism is the engine of their economy. These countries largely depend on the third sector for growth, since a large part of their GDP is linked to the arrival of visitors and their spending in the territory. The World Economic Forum has published its report 'The competitiveness of tourism in 2017' in which it indicates which are the main tourist powers (by the volume of their industry) and which countries depend to a greater extent on this activity (more than 7% of its GDP is linked to tourism). In the top 10 of the countries that generate the highest income from tourism, the United States (449,000 million), China (206,000 million) and Germany (120,500 million) are at the head. Spain is in ninth place (63,500 million), in a list completed by Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Italy and Brazil.
On the other hand, the countries that most depend on this activity based on their GDP are: Malta (15%), Croatia (15%), Thailand (9.3%), Jamaica (8.9%) and Iceland (8 ,two%). The study notes that many of the countries on this list are developing or relatively small in terms of population. This is the case of Iceland, one of the smallest countries in the world (332,529 inhabitants), which receives more visitors in a year than its residents as a whole.
At the other extreme, there are only eight countries with a tourism industry of less than 2% of GDP. Ukraine (1.4%), Russia (1.5%), Poland (1.7%), Canada (1.8%), South Korea (1.8%), the Netherlands, Taiwan and Luxembourg complete this list . Another trend is that the six main tourism industries by volume of business are the six largest economies in the world (United States, China, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and France), although their dependence in terms of GDP does not in any case exceed the 5%.
The European countries most dependent on tourism commit to agree on de-escalation
Spain and 10 other European countries that send and, above all, receive tourists, promise to coordinate in the de-escalation of the coronavirus to save the summer season. At the initiative of Germany, the foreign ministers of this country and of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Slovenia and Malta met this Monday by videoconference to agree on common criteria that allow borders to be opened and facilitate mobility. Until now, European countries have reacted to the pandemic in a disparate way, with scenarios such as that of Italy, which will open its borders to European travelers from June 3, and, at the opposite extreme, that of Spain, which has just imposed Quarantine visitors from abroad.
Convinced that traveling through Europe constitutes "a fundamental part of the European project", the ministers commit to restoring freedom of movement - when the health situation allows it - "based on the principles of proportionality and non-discrimination", according to a joint statement signed by the 11 foreign ministers. Spain, where tourism contributes 13% to the gross domestic product, supports these principles, although the sources consulted in the Executive specify that coordination of movements does not imply a completely timed calendar in the EU.
Despite the fact that from the beginning of the crisis the European States showed a willingness to coordinate their border movements, the asymmetric management of the de-escalation has caused tensions between partners. Weeks ago, German owners of second homes in Spain conveyed their discomfort at the almost complete closure of borders that the Spanish authorities still maintain. Coinciding with the progress in the deconfinement phases, the Pedro Sánchez Executive is already contemplating relaxing some of these border measures, but with a dissuasive condition for tourism: that all visitors from abroad are confined for 14 days upon arrival in Spain. That decision, approved by surprise last week, irritated France, which reciprocally applied the same mobility limitation to Spaniards recently arrived in the country
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