Travel spending is still climbing fast even as the sector wrestles with delays, staffing, and cyber risk. For example, global online travel bookings reached $626.0 billion and U.S. TSA checkpoints processed about 775 million passengers in 2023, while 49% of travel professionals planned to raise cybersecurity budgets in 2024. Put those together and the story behind hotel occupancy, cruise volumes, restaurant growth, and air travel suddenly feels less like “tourism trends” and more like a real-time stress test for the industry.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, tourism generated 9.1% of global employment (ILO; tourism employment share)
- ~74% of global respondents reported they would travel within 12 months in 2024 (Skift Research consumer survey result)
- 1.1 billion passengers carried by air worldwide in 2023 (ICAO, passenger traffic)
- $1.8 billion average daily spending by international tourists in 2023 (UNWTO total receipts divided by days)
- $6.3 trillion global travel and tourism gross bookings in 2023 (S&P Global/CWT research widely cited figure)
- 18.7 million international tourist arrivals were recorded in Thailand in 2023 (Thailand inbound tourism arrivals).
- In 2023, hotel occupancy in the U.S. rose 1.5 percentage points YoY (STR via CBRE recap)
- In 2024, average U.S. RevPAR forecast was $128.96 (CBRE/STR outlook)
- 2.3% of U.S. flights were “high impact” delays in 2023 (BTS on-time performance definition)
- In 2023, Marriott International had 8,951 properties and 1,612,000 rooms worldwide (Marriott investor relations factsheet)
- In 2023, Hilton had 7,335 properties and 1.0 million+ rooms worldwide (Hilton annual report/10-K)
- 49% of travel industry professionals planned to increase cybersecurity spend in 2024 (Gartner survey excerpt via vendor/press release)
- 25.3 million jobs in the U.S. are supported by Travel & Tourism (direct and indirect employment).
- The U.S. accommodation and food services sector posted 21.6 million jobs in May 2024 (BLS employment; NAICS 70-72 aggregate).
- In 2023, the median wage for workers in the U.S. food preparation and serving related occupations was $14.23 per hour (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS).
In 2023 and 2024, travel kept scaling globally with strong spending, jobs, and record passenger volumes.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends11 stats
01
In 2023, tourism generated 9.1% of global employment (ILO; tourism employment share)https://www.wttc.org/research/economic-impact
02
~74% of global respondents reported they would travel within 12 months in 2024 (Skift Research consumer survey result)https://skift.com/research/
03
1.1 billion passengers carried by air worldwide in 2023 (ICAO, passenger traffic)https://www.icao.int/sustainability/Pages/default.aspx
04
In 2023, the number of global branded hotels reached 2.0 million keys (JLL/industry tracking)https://www.jll.com/en/trends/hotels-hospitality
05
In 2023, U.S. restaurants had 11.3 million employees (U.S. BLS, NAICS 722)https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_722000.htm
06
In May 2024, U.S. accommodation and food services added 30,000 jobs (BLS employment situation)https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm
07
In 2023, TSA average daily throughput was about 2.0 million passengers (TSA throughput totals)https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passengers-throughput
08
In 2023, CLIA projected 33.4 million cruise passengers in 2024 (CLIA forecast)https://cruising.org/news-and-research
09
In 2023, the global workforce in accommodation and food services was 287 million people (ILO estimate, sector employment)https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/
10
The average length of stay for international tourists in the EU was 6.8 nights in 2023 (Eurostat; corroborates the EU tourism statistics page).https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Tourism_statistics
11
In 2023, the worldwide hotel investment volume totaled $58 billion (publicly reported by Cushman & Wakefield’s hotel investment market report).https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/united-states/insights/hotel-investment-market-report-2024
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
In 2024, travel demand appears to be broadly accelerating, with about 74% of global respondents planning to travel within the next 12 months and 1.1 billion air passengers flying in 2023, reinforcing how quickly the Industry Trends for travel and hospitality are translating into sustained jobs and investment growth.
02 · Category
Market Size6 stats
01
$1.8 billion average daily spending by international tourists in 2023 (UNWTO total receipts divided by days)https://www.unwto.org/tourism-data
02
$6.3 trillion global travel and tourism gross bookings in 2023 (S&P Global/CWT research widely cited figure)https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/solution/bloomberg-travel-insights
03
18.7 million international tourist arrivals were recorded in Thailand in 2023 (Thailand inbound tourism arrivals).https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TOURISM_INBOUND
04
$35.3 billion in online travel bookings were spent in the U.S. in 2023 (Phocuswright U.S. online travel spend).https://www.phocuswright.com/Articles/Phocuswright-2024-U.S.-Online-Travel-Market
05
In 2023, TSA screened about 775 million passengers (TSA checkpoint throughput annual total).https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/tsa-annual-security-report-2023.pdf
06
In 2023, global online travel bookings were $626.0 billion (Phocuswright U.S./global online travel market overview).https://www.phocuswright.com/Reports/Online-Travel-Market-Overview
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
In 2023 the Travel and Hospitality market size is clearly massive and digitally driven, with global travel and tourism gross bookings reaching $6.3 trillion and global online travel bookings totaling $626.0 billion.
03 · Category
Performance Metrics3 stats
01
In 2023, hotel occupancy in the U.S. rose 1.5 percentage points YoY (STR via CBRE recap)https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/us-hotel-marketview
02
In 2024, average U.S. RevPAR forecast was $128.96(CBRE/STR outlook)https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/us-hotel-outlook
03
2.3% of U.S. flights were “high impact” delays in 2023 (BTS on-time performance definition)https://www.transtats.bts.gov/ONTIME/
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
For Performance Metrics, 2023 showed improving U.S. hospitality demand with hotel occupancy up 1.5 percentage points year over year alongside a 2024 RevPAR forecast of $128.96, while air travel reliability still left room for improvement with 2.3% of flights classified as high impact delays.
04 · Category
User Adoption2 stats
01
In 2023, Marriott International had 8,951 properties and 1,612,000 rooms worldwide (Marriott investor relations factsheet)https://news.marriott.com/news/2023/marriott-reports-4th-quarter-and-full-year-2023-results/
02
In 2023, Hilton had 7,335 properties and 1.0 million+ rooms worldwide (Hilton annual report/10-K)https://www.hilton.com/en/corporate/about-hilton/
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
In 2023 Marriott’s scale of 8,951 properties and 1,612,000 rooms worldwide alongside Hilton’s 7,335 properties and 1.0 million+ rooms shows strong user adoption momentum driven by widespread availability of lodging options at a global level.
More related reading
05 · Category
Cost Analysis1 stats
01
49% of travel industry professionals planned to increase cybersecurity spend in 2024 (Gartner survey excerpt via vendor/press release)https://www.gartner.com/en
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
With 49% of travel industry professionals planning to increase cybersecurity spend in 2024, cost analysis shows that security budgets are set to rise as a notable line item for managing travel and hospitality risk.
06 · Category
Workforce4 stats
01
25.3 million jobs in the U.S. are supported by Travel & Tourism (direct and indirect employment).https://www.americancouncil.org/sites/default/files/2024-11/US%20Travel%20and%20Tourism%20Economic%20Impact%20-%202024%20Report.pdf
02
The U.S. accommodation and food services sector posted 21.6 million jobs in May 2024 (BLS employment; NAICS 70-72 aggregate).https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES7072000003
03
In 2023, the median wage for workers in the U.S. food preparation and serving related occupations was $14.23per hour (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS).https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes352000.htm
04
In 2023, the median wage for U.S. lodging managers was $69,460per year (BLS OEWS).https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes131141.htm
Interpretation
Workforce Interpretation
With 25.3 million U.S. jobs supported by Travel and Tourism and 21.6 million positions in accommodation and food services alone as of May 2024, the industry’s workforce is vast, yet pay varies sharply, from a $14.23 hourly median for food prep and serving workers to $69,460 a year for lodging managers.
07 · Category
Economic Impact1 stats
01
In 2023, U.S. restaurants had 3.7% real revenue growth (Census Bureau quarterly retail/food services revenue and inflation-adjusted calculations as published by a Census-based quarterly business indicators release).https://www.census.gov/retail/index.html
Interpretation
Economic Impact Interpretation
In 2023, U.S. restaurants delivered 3.7% real revenue growth, underscoring how Travel and Hospitality are contributing steady economic momentum through inflation adjusted gains in consumer spending.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Helena Kowalczyk. (2026, February 13). Travel And Hospitality Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/travel-and-hospitality-industry-statistics
MLA
Helena Kowalczyk. "Travel And Hospitality Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/travel-and-hospitality-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Helena Kowalczyk. 2026. "Travel And Hospitality Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/travel-and-hospitality-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
28 datasets cited across this report
+6 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)