People Worldwide Have Spent Almost $4 Trillion on Traveling and Vacation in the Past Five Years

Although it took four years for the global tourism sector to fully recover from the COVID-19 hit, people worldwide have still spent hundreds of billions of dollars each year on traveling and vacation. In 2024, global travel and tourism revenues are expected to jump by 8.3% and hit almost $930 billion, the highest figure in the market`s history. But the cumulative figures for the past five years are even more impressive.

According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, people worldwide have spent almost $4 trillion on traveling and vacations in the past five years. 

Hotels Make Almost Half the Total Spending with a Five-Year Revenue of $1.85 Trillion

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the global tourism sector had seen almost uninterrupted growth for decades, with hundreds of billions of dollars spent on hotels, cruises, vacation rentals, and package holidays each year. That changed in 2020 and 2021, the years that brought the steepest revenue drop this market had ever seen. Three years later, the entire sector fully recovered, although still vulnerable to global economic conditions. And while the aftermath of the COVID-19 hit is quite severe, people worldwide continued spending hundreds of billions of dollars on vacation and traveling, even when the market was at its lowest point.

According to Statista Market Insights, between 2018 and 2023, people worldwide spent $3.95 trillion on vacation and traveling. This impressive figure is even more interesting considering that over $840 billion was spent in 2020 and 2021 when the market was down.

Statistics also show hotels brought far more money than any other market segment in the past five years. Since 2018, people worldwide have spent more than $1.85 trillion on hotel vacations, almost 45% more than on package holidays, and more than on camping, cruises, and vacation rentals combined. Package holidays ranked as the second-largest revenue stream, with $1.28 trillion in five-year spending. As the third-largest revenue stream, vacation rentals saw only one-third of that figure, or $448 billion in the past five years. Far below, camping and cruises follow with $240 billion and $113 billion in revenue, respectively.

Europeans Spent the Most on Vacation and Traveling, over $1.2 Trillion in Five Years

The Statista survey also showed that Europeans are by far the biggest spenders when it comes to vacations and traveling. Between 2018 and 2023, the residents of the old continent have spent a whopping $1.2 trillion on vacation and traveling, almost 40% more than Americans and twice more than Chinese. Americans were the only nation close to Europeans in total spending, with $917.7 billion spent on vacation and travel since 2018. China, the world`s second-largest nation, is far below these figures. Statistics show that the Chinese have spent $666 billion on traveling and vacation in the past five years, almost 30% less than Americans and nearly twice less than Europeans