Gitnux/Report 2026

Travel Industry Statistics

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Travel Industry Statistics
Samuel NorbergWritten by Samuel Norberg·Fact-checked by Maya Johansson
Published
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

Gitnux editors write the brief first: the topic, the inclusion rules, and the frame for what belongs.

02Source Research

Agents search the published record and log every extracted figure back to the passage it came from.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 39 days

01 Industry overview

The travel industry at a glance

Travel and tourism reached a record US$11.6 trillion contribution to global GDP in 2025, equal to 9.8% of the world economy, while demand continued expanding despite capacity, fuel and geopolitical constraints.

$11.6T[35]
Global GDP contribution, 2025
366M[35]
Global jobs supported, 2025
1.54B[35]
International arrivals, 2025
3.09B[61]
EU accommodation nights, 2025
Market size
Travel and Tourism contributed US$11.6 trillion to global GDP in 2025, representing 9.8% of the global economy. The sector also supported 366 million jobs worldwide.[35]
Forecast & CAGR
WTTC forecasts that Travel and Tourism will contribute US$16.5 trillion to the global economy by 2035, implying average annual growth of about 3.5% over the decade. International visitor spending is forecast to reach US$2.9 trillion by 2035, with a 3.4% CAGR.[35]
Market share & regions
In the EU, Spain, Italy, France and Germany together accounted for 1.9 billion accommodation nights in 2025, or 61.6% of the EU total. EU accommodation demand was broadly balanced between domestic tourists, at 51.4%, and international tourists, at 48.6%.[61]
Segmentation
EU accommodation nights in 2025 were distributed across hotels and similar accommodation, with 1.9 billion nights or 62.5% of the total; holiday and other short-stay accommodation accounted for 24.1%, and campsites and caravanning sites for 13.4%.[61]
Key players & concentration
Travel distribution is concentrated among large online platforms and integrated suppliers, although comparable global market-share data are not consistently published. In the EU, online platforms including Airbnb, Booking and Expedia generated 951.6 million guest nights in 2025, up 11.4% from 2024.[61]
Pricing
Airline pricing is under pressure from higher fuel and operating costs. IATA expects global passenger ticket revenue to reach US$839 billion in 2026, up 9.2% year on year, while ancillary revenue is projected to rise 12.6% to US$165 billion as carriers use fares and add-on services to recover costs.[6]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Global air passenger demand grew 5.3% in 2025, but IATA forecasts only 2.1% growth in 2026 as fuel costs, airspace disruption and weaker macroeconomic conditions weigh on travel. The sector’s longer-term expansion is supported by rising international mobility and investment, while sustainability, capacity constraints and geopolitical disruption remain material challenges.[6][35]
Consumer behavior & competition
Online short-stay accommodation bookings are gaining share: EU guests spent 951.6 million nights in platform-booked accommodation in 2025, 11.4% more than in 2024 and 32.4% more than in 2023. Competition is increasingly centered on integrated booking journeys spanning air, lodging, activities, ground transport and travel protection.[61][50]
M&A
Expedia Group completed its acquisition of CarTrawler in September 2026, adding car rental, ground transport and insurtech capabilities to its B2B platform. It also agreed to acquire activities and experiences platform Tiqets in December 2025, with completion expected in the first quarter of 2026.[50][21]
Latest news
The latest available industry data show a mixed late-2026 picture: global passenger demand fell 0.8% year on year in August 2026, while capacity increased 0.3% and the load factor remained high at 85.1%. The decline was linked largely to continued weakness in Middle Eastern aviation markets and associated airspace disruption.[6]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Travel Industry

The leading companies in the travel industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 10, 2026 · Next review December 10, 2026

Verdict

Royal Caribbean Group and Hilton are tied at the top of Gitnux's 2026 travel ranking with an Overall score of 9.4 each.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in cruise operations

    Royal Caribbean Group

    US

    Ranked #1 · 9.4 · Cruise operations

    Why we picked it: Cruise and vacation operations at global scale, shown by $17.9 billion 2025 revenue.

    See in ranking ↓Visit rclinvestor.com ↗

  2. Leader in hotel and lodging

    Hilton

    US

    Ranked #2 · 9.4 · Hotel and lodging

    Why we picked it: Hotel growth and profitability are reflected in 9,000 hotels and 22.4% operating margin.

    See in ranking ↓Visit hilton.com ↗

  3. Leader in passenger airlines

    United Airlines Holdings

    US

    Ranked #5 · 9.1 · Passenger airlines

    Why we picked it: Airline reach is quantified by 181 million passengers and 380+ destinations in 2025.

    See in ranking ↓Visit united.com ↗

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Picks 2 and 3 are the highest-ranked companies in the top 5 that add a new segment.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 10 companies in the travel industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

Royal Caribbean Group

Cruise operations · US

9.4
2

Hilton

Hotel and lodging · US

9.4
3

Carnival Corporation

Cruise operations · US

9.1
4

InterContinental Hotels Group

Hotel and lodging · GB

9.1
5

United Airlines Holdings

Passenger airlines · US

9.1
6

Delta Air Lines

Global passenger airline and cargo operator · US

8.8
7

Emirates Group

International airline and aviation services · AE

8.8
8

Marriott International

Global hotels, resorts and lodging brands · US

8.7
9

Ryanair Holdings

European low-cost passenger airline · IE

8.7
10

easyJet

European low-cost passenger airline · GB

8.0

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).
  • Performance (20%): recent revenue growth and operating margin; an analyst assessment where a company does not publish them.
  • Momentum (20%): growth trajectory and future potential.
  • Innovation (15%): R&D intensity and how technologically advanced the company is.

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 10, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Top 10 companies in the travel industry. In Travel Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/travel-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Projection

Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments (European Union)

Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments grew from 2.9 billion nights in 2019 to 3 billion nights in 2024.

2.9 billion nights
Start
+0.96%
CAGR · 5y
3 billion nights
Projected
20192024
source-verifiedec.europa.eu2024

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

Travel organizations reported broad AI use, with 80% using AI in some capacity and 6% actively scaling agentic AI in 2026.

AI in the travel industry

  • 35% of major publicly traded travel companies mentioned AI in their 2024 annual reports, up from 4% in 2022.[1]
  • 80% of surveyed travel companies use AI in some capacity, with marketing, customer support and sales the leading applications.[2]
  • 6% of surveyed travel businesses were actively scaling agentic AI in 2026.[3]
  • 54% of travel organizations with a customer-data platform use AI daily or several times per week, versus 28% without one.[4]
  • 60% of travel and hospitality service organizations currently use at least one form of AI, according to Salesforce research.[5]
  • 61% of surveyed travel businesses were experimenting with or scaling agentic AI in 2026.[3]

Automation in the travel industry

  • 58% of global air passengers used biometric identification during an airport journey in 2026.[6]
  • 74% of air travelers were willing to share biometric information instead of repeatedly showing passports and boarding passes in 2025.[6]
  • 47% of travelers preferred predominantly or exclusively digital hospitality check-in in 2024.[7]
  • 34% of global air passengers used biometrics during airport processes in 2022.[6]
  • 46% of global air passengers used biometrics during airport processes in 2023.[6]
  • 50% of global air passengers used biometrics during airport processes in 2025.[6]

Digital Transformation in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • 80% of travel and hospitality respondents reported siloed, transactional, or consultative relationships between business and information-technology teams.[8]
  • 69% of lodging-technology survey respondents identified integrating new technology with legacy systems as a moderate or major 2024 industry challenge.[9]
  • 47% of hotels in Andalusia rated their infrastructure capacity for digital transformation as high or very high in the study period.[10]
  • 59% of active travel and hospitality respondents were at the piloting or deploying stage of AI adoption in Adobe’s global research.[8]

Technology Adoption in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • 89% of travel and hospitality executives expected generative AI to have a meaningful business impact within three years.[11]
  • 14% of travel buyers said they were already using AI in their travel programs in the October 2024 GBTA poll.[12]
  • 83% of travel and hospitality executives said they increased AI budgets in 2024, according to the Skift-AWS industry survey.[11]
  • 49% of global travel programs planned to increase technology investment for 2025, based on a GBTA poll of travel-industry professionals.[12]

Cloud Computing in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • 79% of travel and tourism companies surveyed by the World Economic Forum reported cloud computing among technologies expected to be adopted.[13]
  • 69% of hospitality respondents used a hybrid-cloud deployment model globally in 2023, compared with 31% using public cloud only.[14]
  • 67% of travel and hospitality companies were in advanced stages of cloud adoption globally in 2024, according to a survey of industry executives.[11]
  • 67% of travel and hospitality companies were in advanced stages of cloud adoption in the 2024 Skift-AWS industry survey.[11]
  • 29% of hospitality respondents reported full cloud maturity for critical applications and workloads globally, while 38% said they were well on the way in 2023.[14]

Big Data in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • 89% of travel and tourism companies surveyed by the World Economic Forum reported user and entity big-data analytics among technologies expected to be adopted.[13]
  • 18.8% of hotels in an Andalusian study rated their implementation of big-data tools as high or very high.[10]
  • More than eight in ten worldwide travel buyers considered data analytics extremely or very important to their travel programs in April 2025.[15]
  • 62.8% of hotels in an Andalusian study rated their implementation of big-data tools as low or very low.[10]

Blockchain in the travel industry

  • 59.83% of Travala’s Q1 2024 booking revenue came from hotels.[16]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Data integration gaps show up in adoption and confidence: only 11% reported a fully integrated technology stack in 2026.

Business intelligence in the travel industry

  • 24% of airline and hotel leaders use voice-of-the-customer data to anticipate customer behavior and expectations in 2024.[17]
  • 44% of airline and hotel leaders use booking and reservation systems, including look-to-book ratios, to anticipate customer behavior in 2024 across four global regions.[17]
  • Two-thirds of corporate travel buyers interact with travel data weekly or daily in a worldwide survey conducted in April 2025.[15]
  • 34% of airline and hotel leaders use external data sources such as weather, holidays and major events to anticipate customer behavior in 2024.[17]
  • 25% of airline and hotel leaders use external competitive data platforms or sources to anticipate customer behavior in 2024.[17]
  • 29% of airline and hotel leaders use revenue-management systems to anticipate customer behavior and expectations in 2024.[17]

Data analytics in the travel industry

  • 24% of airline and hotel leaders use voice-of-the-customer data to anticipate customer behavior in a 2024 survey covering North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.[17]
  • 75% of corporate travel buyers do not use artificial intelligence to collect, analyze or report travel data in a worldwide 2025 survey.[15]
  • 46% of airline and hotel leaders use forecasting data or systems to anticipate customer behavior in a 2024 survey covering four global regions.[17]
  • 34% of airline and hotel leaders use external data such as weather, holidays and major events in customer-behavior analysis in 2024.[17]
  • 18% of airline and hotel leaders use business-experimentation systems to test new offerings in a 2024 global-region survey.[17]
  • 25% of airline and hotel leaders use external competitive data platforms or sources in customer-behavior analysis in 2024.[17]

Data Quality in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • 27% of hotel operators spent more than 11 hours per week consolidating or reconciling data in 2026.[12]
  • 27% of hotel operators used more than seven technology platforms in 2026, increasing the risk of fragmented and inconsistent operational data.[12]
  • 47% of business leaders were fully confident in their organizations’ data accuracy in 2025, across the broader business sample reported by Salesforce.[5]
  • 15% of hotel owners and operators were very confident in the accuracy and timeliness of their operational data in 2026.[12]
  • 69% of travel and hospitality companies training AI models wasted resources on bad data in 2025, according to a Salesforce survey of business leaders.[5]

Data Governance in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • Only 11% of hotel owners and operators reported a fully integrated technology stack in 2026, indicating limited enterprise-wide data integration.[12]
  • 51% of hoteliers said regulation helped their commercial goals in 2025, while 20% said it hindered them, in a survey covering hotel distribution professionals.[18]
  • 78% of travel and hospitality business leaders said data-governance policies varied across departments in 2025.[5]
  • 91% of hotel owners and operators still relied on some manual reporting within automated workflows in 2026, highlighting incomplete process standardization.[12]
  • 97% of travel and hospitality business leaders said a strong data foundation was the most critical factor for AI deployment in 2025.[5]

KPIs in the travel industry

  • 83.5% was the global airline passenger load factor in 2024, the highest full-year level recorded by IATA.[6]
  • 74.5% was the 2024 passenger load factor for African airlines on international routes.[6]
  • 84.8% was the 2024 passenger load factor for Latin American airlines, the highest among global regions.[6]
  • $159.00 was the average daily rate for U.S. hotels in 2024.[19]
  • 10.4% was global airline passenger-demand growth measured in revenue passenger-kilometers in 2024.[6]
  • 8.7% was global airline capacity growth measured in available seat-kilometers in 2024.[6]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Growth is measurable in platform and bookings performance: Airbnb revenue reached $11.1 billion worldwide in 2024.

Growth in the travel industry

  • 12% growth in Airbnb revenue was recorded in 2024, reaching $11.1 billion worldwide.[20]
  • 7% growth in Expedia Group revenue was recorded in 2024 compared with 2023, globally.[21]
  • 12% growth in Airbnb gross booking value was recorded in 2024, reaching $8.5 billion worldwide.[20]
  • 72% growth in adjusted EBITDA was reported by Trip.com Group in 2024, reaching $382.4 million globally.[22]
  • 17% growth in Trip.com Group gross bookings was reported in 2024, reaching $16.099 billion globally.[22]
  • 17% growth in gross bookings was reported by Booking Holdings in 2024, reaching $165.6 billion globally.[23]

Differentiation in the travel industry

  • 68% of U.S. consumers wanted personalized offers for discounts on travel products in 2024.[24]
  • 75% of U.S. consumers said more personalized offers would help them save money on travel in 2024.[24]
  • 17% of travel businesses reported that customers increased trip spending by more than 25% in 2024.[25]
  • 82% of travelers were interested in booking travel through loyalty programs outside the travel industry in 2025.[21]
  • 71% of global travel leaders identified anonymous visitor identification as their top personalization challenge in 2025.[26]
  • 55% of global travel leaders rated their digital customer journey maturity as only adequate in 2025.[26]

Mergers and acquisitions in the travel industry

  • $100 million was the value of the transaction involving the Travel + Leisure publishing brand and related assets described in 2024 industry M&A coverage.[27]
  • 1,200 cabins across 29 U.S. destinations were added when Marriott acquired Postcard Cabins in late 2024.[27]
  • $6.3 billion was the reported value of Long Lake’s 2026 transaction to take American Express Global Business Travel private.[28]
  • $69 million was the breakup fee JetBlue agreed to pay Spirit after their proposed merger ended in 2024.[29]
  • $570 million was the value of American Express Global Business Travel’s 2024 acquisition of CWT’s U.S. business.[30]
  • 58.5% was the reported year-over-year decline in first-half 2024 travel, leisure and hospitality deal volume in KPMG’s analysis.[30]

Strategic partnerships in the travel industry

  • 60 Airbus A321neo aircraft were ordered by Riyadh Air in 2024 as part of its expansion strategy alongside airline partnerships.[29]
  • $13 billion was the list-price value of flydubai’s 75-aircraft Boeing 737 MAX order announced in 2025.[29]
  • 216 million annual passengers was Ryanair’s stated scale when it announced its 2025 Google Cloud partnership targeting future growth.[31]
  • 13% of HBX Group’s accommodation-segment total transaction value came from airlines and loyalty programs in 2024.[32]
  • 30 million passengers were served annually across 75 markets by Etraveli Group when it partnered with Radisson Hotel Group in 2024.[33]
  • 130 million members were enrolled in IHG One Rewards when IHG and Hainan Airlines announced their China partnership in 2024.[34]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Workforce pressure persists alongside demand: 8.6 million hospitality workers are projected to be lacking globally by 2035.

Hiring in the travel industry

  • 371 million jobs are forecast to be supported by Travel & Tourism worldwide in 2025.[35]
  • 91 million new Travel & Tourism roles are projected globally between 2025 and 2035.[35]
  • 8.6 million hospitality workers are projected to be lacking globally by 2035.[35]
  • 357 million jobs were supported by Travel & Tourism worldwide in 2024.[35]
  • More than 20 million additional low-skilled workers are projected to be needed in Travel & Tourism by 2035.[35]

Employee retention in the travel industry

  • 5.7% was the turnover rate for Hong Kong MICE companies in the 2023 survey.[36]
  • 45.2% was the turnover rate for secretarial and other employees at Hong Kong travel and ticket agents in 2023.[36]
  • 9.2% was the turnover rate for supervisory and technical employees in Hong Kong MICE companies in 2023.[36]
  • 1.1% was the turnover rate for Hong Kong airline companies in the 2023 survey.[36]
  • 11.1% was the turnover rate for supervisory and technical employees at Hong Kong attractions in 2023.[36]

Remote Work in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.S. hospitality and food services, employees worked 10.23% of paid days from home in 2024.[37]
  • Among travel buyers, 7% reported a full-time remote company policy for 2024, compared with 15% among travel suppliers and travel-management companies.[38]
  • Across U.S. hospitality and food services, employees worked 11.11% of paid days from home in 2025.[37]
  • Across U.S. hospitality and food services, employees worked 10.19% of paid days from home in 2026.[37]

Hybrid Work in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • Among travel buyers, 68% reported a hybrid company work policy for 2024.[38]
  • Among business-travel professionals in the Asia-Pacific region, 62% reported that their company had a hybrid work policy for 2025.[39]
  • Among business-travel professionals in Europe, 77% reported that their company had a hybrid work policy for 2025.[39]
  • Among business-travel professionals in Latin America, 58% reported that their company had a hybrid work policy for 2025.[39]
  • Among business-travel professionals in North America, 51% reported that their company had a hybrid work policy for 2025.[39]

Upskilling in the travel industry

  • 81.2% of new Hong Kong travel and ticket agent recruits had tourism work experience in 2023.[36]
  • More than 10% of the European tourism workforce is targeted to receive upskilling or reskilling annually.[40]
  • 82.6% of new Hong Kong MICE recruits had relevant tourism work experience in 2023.[36]
  • 100% of new Hong Kong airline managerial and professional recruits had tourism work experience in 2023.[36]
  • 86.6% of new Hong Kong MICE supervisory and technical recruits had tourism work experience in 2023.[36]

Employee Engagement in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across Travel + Leisure Co.’s accommodation and hospitality workforce, the 2024 associate-engagement survey received 16,405 completions, representing 86% of associates.[41]
  • Across IHG’s global hotel and corporate workforce, the 2024 employee-engagement score was 87%.[34]
  • Across New Zealand hospitality and tourism workplaces, 67% of employees in very small organizations reported work engagement in 2025.[42]
  • Across New Zealand tourism businesses, 60% of employees reported work engagement in 2025.[42]
  • Across New Zealand hospitality businesses, 47% of employees reported work engagement in 2025.[42]

DEI in the travel industry

  • More than 6% of employees in destination organizations identified as neurodivergent in the 2023 survey.[43]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Customer acquisition and experience are tracked with clear survey signals, including 78% airline customer satisfaction in 2025.

Customer experience in the travel industry

  • 19% of global air travelers preferred web applications for booking in 2025, up from 16% in 2024.[6]
  • 78% of global airline customers reported satisfaction in 2025, based on 23,730 consumers across 23 countries.[44]
  • 31% of global air travelers preferred airline websites for booking in 2025, down from 37% in 2024.[6]
  • 76% of global airline customers said they would recommend their airline in 2025, based on 23,730 consumers across 23 countries.[44]
  • 59% of airline and hotel leaders found improving customer experience challenging or very challenging in 2024.[17]

Customer retention in the travel industry

  • 46% of airline and hotel leaders reported inability to scale as an effect of personalization limitations in 2024.[17]
  • 60% of Asia-Pacific travel leaders expected third-party solutions to improve customer relationship management and retention in 2024.[17]
  • 25.6% was the 90th-percentile three-month retention rate for travel and hospitality digital products in Amplitude’s 2025 dataset.[45]
  • 43% of airline and hotel leaders reported diminished marketing ROI from personalization limitations in 2024.[17]
  • 50% of airline and hotel leaders expected third-party solutions to improve customer relationship management and retention in 2024.[17]

Customer acquisition in the travel industry

  • 10.7 million annual transacting users were recorded by Tripadvisor in 2024, more than 2.6 times its 2022 level.[46]
  • 61% of European travel leaders viewed online travel agencies as a growing threat in 2024.[17]
  • 7.6% was the 90th-percentile acquisition rate for travel and hospitality digital products in Amplitude’s 2025 dataset.[45]
  • 69% of airline and hotel leaders found improving customer acquisition challenging or very challenging in 2024.[17]
  • 63% of North American travel leaders identified increased demand for personalized experiences as an impactful industry trend in 2024.[17]

Customer loyalty in the travel industry

  • 9% of airline loyalty-program members booked two flights during the previous year with airlines where they were not members.[47]
  • 32% of wealthier travel-loyalty members believed the value of their loyalty programs had decreased in 2024.[47]
  • 17% of hotel loyalty-program members stayed at a hotel where they were not members two times during the previous year.[47]
  • Approximately 60% of travel loyalty-program members considered points and rewards when deciding where and when to travel in 2024.[47]
  • 35% of older travel-loyalty members believed the value of their loyalty programs had decreased in 2024.[47]

Lead generation in the travel industry

  • 21% of travel advisors identified consumer events as a lead-generation source in 2025.[48]
  • 88% of travel advisors identified word-of-mouth referrals as a lead-generation source in 2025.[48]
  • 57% of travel advisors identified personal experience or specialization as a lead-generation source in 2025.[48]
  • 77% of travel advisors identified current or past clientele as a lead-generation source in 2025.[48]
  • 34% of travel advisors identified digital marketing as a lead-generation source in 2025.[48]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Travel marketing performance is linked to the booking path: 61% of travelers used search engines during the 45 days before booking.

Marketing in the travel industry

  • 41% of destination marketing organizations identified increasing brand awareness as their top marketing priority for 2024.[49]
  • 81% of U.S. travelers who noticed influential advertising recalled seeing it during the inspiration phase.[50]
  • 7% of travelers who noticed an influential travel advertisement recalled seeing it shortly before booking.[50]
  • 67% of travelers who noticed an influential travel advertisement recalled seeing it during the inspiration phase of the booking journey.[50]
  • 40% of Mexican travelers said advertising influenced their decision to book, the highest rate among markets in Expedia’s 2023 study.[50]

Digital marketing in the travel industry

  • 7.9% was the forecast growth rate for U.S. travel-industry digital advertising in 2025.[51]
  • 53% of travelers using social media during planning looked for trip deals.[52]
  • 77% of travelers identified social media as their leading online resource for trip inspiration.[52]
  • 8.9% was the forecast growth rate for U.S. travel-industry digital advertising in 2024.[51]
  • 61% of travelers used search engines during the 45 days before booking a trip, according to Expedia’s path-to-purchase research.[52]

Branding in the travel industry

  • 81% of U.S. hotel-loyalty members said the ability to earn points for free stays or upgrades influenced their hotel brand loyalty in 2024.[53]
  • 78% of travelers said loyalty programs at least somewhat influenced their hotel or resort choices in 2025.[54]
  • 50% was the median share of wallet captured by lodging brands in the 2024 hospitality loyalty analysis.[24]
  • 62% of U.S. hotel-loyalty members said maintaining their status or level influenced their hotel brand loyalty in 2024.[53]
  • 85% of U.S. hotel-loyalty members said consistent service influenced their hotel brand loyalty in 2024.[53]

Social media in the travel industry

  • 65% of travelers using social media for inspiration looked for destination ideas in Expedia’s path-to-purchase research.[50]
  • 29% of air travelers overall cited social media among their top sources of travel inspiration in 2025.[55]
  • 41% of travelers using social media for inspiration viewed travel content from friends or family.[50]
  • 73% of global consumers said influencer recommendations influenced their decision to book a trip or travel component in 2025.[21]
  • 49% of travelers using social media for inspiration looked for lodging recommendations.[50]

Influencer Marketing in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • 72% of European travel and hospitality brands plan to expand their creator pool, according to research conducted across seven European markets in 2025.[56]
  • 49% of hospitality brands include paid influencer work in their brand strategy, up from 37% in the previous survey period.[57]
  • 91% of hospitality brands include some form of influencer marketing in their brand strategy, based on a 2026 hospitality-sector survey.[57]
  • 92% of destination marketing organizations and tourism boards globally increased or maintained influencer-marketing budgets in 2026.[58]
  • More than 6.5 million influencer posts about the travel industry were published globally in 2023, generating an average engagement rate of 2.4%.[59]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Operational reliability and service quality remain quantifiable, with 85.1% load factor cited for late-2026 conditions.

Process optimization in the travel industry

  • 549,439 domestic flights were operated by U.S. airlines in February 2024, 4.35% more than in February 2023.[60]
  • 144.3 million guest nights were booked through three major online accommodation platforms in the EU in the first quarter of 2026.[61]
  • 1.30% of wheelchairs and scooters were mishandled by reporting U.S. marketing carriers in February 2024.[60]
  • 0.20 denied boardings per 10,000 passengers were recorded by 10 U.S. reporting marketing carriers in the fourth quarter of 2023.[60]
  • 0.6% of scheduled domestic flights by 10 U.S. marketing carriers were cancelled in February 2024.[60]

Operational efficiency in the travel industry

  • 77.8% of American Eagle Airlines flights arrived on time in the United States in 2024.[62]
  • 82.1% of Pinnacle Airlines flights arrived on time in the United States in 2024.[62]
  • 76.8% of PSA Airlines flights arrived on time in the United States in 2024.[62]
  • 74.5% of Spirit Airlines flights arrived on time in the United States in 2024.[62]
  • 78.6% of Southwest Airlines flights arrived on time in the United States in 2024.[62]

Quality management in the travel industry

  • 49% of hotel guests identified property cleanliness as a top step for ensuring a positive experience in 2025.[19]
  • 37% of hotel guests identified friendly staff as a top step for ensuring a positive experience in 2025.[19]
  • 46% of hotel guests cited staff interactions as a reason to leave a positive review in 2025.[19]
  • 5,000 travelers across five European countries participated in Accor’s hotel-review research in 2024.[63]
  • 97% of European hotel guests surveyed by Accor had consulted guest reviews when booking a hotel or resort in 2024.[63]

Supply chain in the travel industry

  • 18,000 aircraft was the aerospace order backlog cited by IATA in June 2026.[6]
  • $1.4 billion in additional spares inventory was attributed to aviation supply-chain problems in 2025.[6]
  • $11 billion was the estimated cost of aviation supply-chain challenges to airlines in 2025.[6]
  • 74% of airlines participating in an IATA survey used PMA parts to mitigate supply-chain challenges.[6]
  • 17,000 aircraft made up the global commercial-aircraft order backlog in 2024–2025, according to IATA.[6]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the travel and hospitality sector (sector benchmark)

  • 64% of European corporate travel managers outsourced at least part of their hotel RFP process in 2026.[38]
  • 54% of organizations across North America and EMEA outsourced some or all hotel RFP activities to travel management companies or consultants in 2026.[38]
  • Around three in 10 travel buyers worldwide engaged external consultants for travel-supplier sourcing in 2025.[15]
  • Six in 10 travel buyers worldwide relied on their travel management company for sourcing support in 2025.[15]
  • 9% of North American travel buyers and 13% of European travel buyers whose programs were not adding staff expected to outsource more work to third parties in 2025.[38]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Airline monetization and yields diverge: IATA projected 2026 passenger ticket revenue of US$839 billion and ancillary revenue of US$165 billion.

Pricing strategy in the travel industry

  • $214.90 was Marriott’s 2024 systemwide RevPAR for W Hotels in the United States and Canada, up 1.1% year over year.[64]
  • $111.97 was Marriott’s 2024 systemwide RevPAR for Courtyard properties in the United States and Canada, up 1.2% year over year.[64]
  • $341.41 was Marriott’s 2024 systemwide RevPAR for Ritz-Carlton properties in the United States and Canada, up 4.3% year over year.[64]
  • $165 billion was forecast 2026 global airline ancillary revenue, up 12.6% year over year as airlines emphasized baggage and seat-selection pricing.[6]
  • 4.0% was the forecast decline in global airline passenger yields in 2025 compared with 2024.[6]

Cost reduction in the travel industry

  • 13% planned to reduce technology expenses such as Wi-Fi and roaming charges in 2025 business travel.[65]
  • 18% planned to schedule fewer business trips but extend trip duration in 2025.[65]
  • 23% planned to source hotels across different brand scales to reduce business-travel costs in 2025.[65]
  • 25% planned to negotiate lower hotel room rates in exchange for convenience in 2025 business-travel programs.[65]
  • 19% planned to reduce the number of business trips in 2025.[65]

Profitability in the travel industry

  • 6.7% was the forecast 2025 global airline return on invested capital.[6]
  • 4.2% was the 2025 global airline net profit margin reported in IATA’s 2026 annual review.[6]
  • $48 billion was the forecast global airline EBIT in 2026, implying a 4.1% operating margin.[6]
  • $36.0 billion was forecast global airline net profit in 2025, equal to a 3.7% net margin.[6]
  • 11.7% was the 2024 revenue growth rate for Canada’s other travel-arrangement and reservation-services industry.[66]

Financial planning in the travel industry

  • 34% of travel buyers reported encouraging fewer but longer business trips in 2024.[67]
  • 6% of travel buyers reported reducing hotel category to control business-travel budgets in 2024.[67]
  • 23% of travel buyers reported limiting the number of employees on a business trip in 2024.[67]
  • 40 million aircraft departures were forecast globally for 2025, up 4.6% from 2024, supporting airline capacity planning.[6]
  • 73% of corporate travel managers expected their companies’ business-travel spending to grow in 2024.[7]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Trip-element bundling matters: 54% of travelers said booking all trip elements on one platform makes them more likely to select an online travel platform.

Product development in the travel industry

  • 54% of travelers said booking all trip elements on one platform makes them more likely to select an online travel platform in 2025.[68]
  • 2.9 activities per traveler were planned on average for trips in the following year in Expedia Group research covering 2025 travel intentions.[68]
  • 69% of travelers said a rental car makes it easier to have an authentic, local travel experience in 2025 across surveyed markets.[68]
  • 2.2 flight trips per traveler were planned on average for the following year in Expedia Group research covering 2025 travel intentions.[68]
  • 62% of travelers said flight-booking capability makes them more likely to choose an online travel platform in 2025 across surveyed markets.[68]

Product lifecycle in the travel industry

  • 88% of consumers planned a leisure trip within the next 12 months in Expedia Group’s 2025 global survey.[21]
  • 59% of travelers did not have a destination in mind before beginning trip planning in Expedia Group research covering 2024 booking behavior.[50]
  • 68% of consumers planned or had already booked international travel within the next 12 months in Expedia Group’s 2025 global survey.[21]
  • 76% of travelers were at least somewhat likely to book additional trip elements on a platform where they had already booked one element in 2025.[68]
  • 77% of travelers were likely to book more than one part of their next trip on the same platform in 2025 research.[68]

After-sales in the travel industry

  • 77 was the 2026 ACSI customer-satisfaction score for U.S. lodging, the highest score among the five travel categories measured.[69]
  • 1% was the year-over-year increase in U.S. lodging customer satisfaction in the 2026 ACSI Travel Study.[69]
  • 1% was the year-over-year increase in U.S. online-travel-agency customer satisfaction in the 2026 ACSI Travel Study.[69]
  • 1% was the year-over-year increase in U.S. rideshare customer satisfaction in the 2026 ACSI Travel Study.[69]
  • 1% was the year-over-year increase in U.S. car-rental customer satisfaction in the 2026 ACSI Travel Study.[69]

Value proposition in the travel industry

  • 40% of travelers were very likely to book trip elements together when offered additional savings in 2025 research.[68]
  • 44% of travelers cited time savings as a motivation for booking multiple trip elements on the same platform in 2025.[68]
  • 40% of travelers cited easier trip management as a motivation for booking multiple trip elements on the same platform in 2025.[68]
  • 75% of consumers said they would pay more for a vacation rental with better customer reviews in Expedia Group’s 2025 survey.[68]
  • 58% of consumers expected to become more price-conscious about travel during the next 12 months in Expedia Group’s 2025 survey.[21]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Emissions and targets diverge in outcomes: greenhouse-gas emissions intensity fell 15% globally between 2019 and 2024.

Sustainability in the travel industry

  • Travel & Tourism’s greenhouse-gas emissions intensity fell 15% globally between 2019 and 2024.[35]
  • 82% of companies surveyed had sustainability goals in 2023, but only 45% had sustainable-business-travel targets.[15]
  • 39.6% of direct Travel & Tourism jobs were held by women globally in 2024.[35]
  • 43% of surveyed U.S. travelers applied at least one sustainability measure when traveling in 2024.[54]
  • 83% of global travelers said sustainable travel was important to them in 2024.[70]

ESG in the travel industry

  • 26% of Delta’s supply-chain emissions were linked to suppliers calculating emissions under the GHG Protocol in 2024.[71]
  • 34% of Booking Holdings leadership were women as of December 31, 2024.[72]
  • 91% of Host Hotels & Resorts employees participated in charitable giving or volunteerism in 2024.[73]
  • 100% of Host Hotels & Resorts employees completed code-of-business-conduct and ethics training in 2024.[73]
  • 26% of Booking Holdings technology positions were held by women as of December 31, 2024.[72]

Ethics in the travel industry

  • Host Hotels & Resorts employees participated in charitable giving or volunteerism at a 91% rate in 2024.[73]
  • An estimated 9 million additional children were at risk of entering child labor by the end of 2022 after pandemic-related economic hardship.[74]
  • 26% of Booking Holdings technology employees were women in 2024, according to its U.S. workforce disclosure.[72]
  • 34% of Booking Holdings leadership were women in 2024, based on the company’s disclosed workforce data.[72]
  • Booking Holdings reported operations across more than 140 nationalities in its global workforce in 2024.[72]

CSR in the travel industry

  • 78% of nonprofits selected by Host Hotels & Resorts employees were employee-selected in 2024.[73]
  • 39.6% of direct global Travel & Tourism jobs were held by women in 2024.[35]
  • 46% of Booking Holdings employees were women in 2024.[72]
  • 163 Host Hotels & Resorts employees were reported in 2023.[73]
  • 14 years was Host Hotels & Resorts’ average employee tenure in 2024.[73]

Circular economy in the travel industry

  • 23% was Marriott’s reduction in waste-to-landfill intensity from its 2019 baseline by year-end 2024.[75]
  • 14,836 tonnes of MSC Cruises’ recyclable waste were glass in 2024.[76]
  • 35,013 tonnes of MSC Cruises’ waste were directed to disposal in 2024.[76]
  • 41.5% of MSC Cruises’ total waste was recyclable in 2024.[76]
  • 54% of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ total ship waste was recycled, incinerated or donated in 2024.[77]

Carbon footprint in the travel industry

  • Utilities produced 21% of Travel & Tourism’s greenhouse-gas emissions in 2021.[78]
  • Delta reported 60,570,033 metric tons of total CO₂e emissions in 2024.[71]
  • Transportation produced 35% of Travel & Tourism’s greenhouse-gas emissions in 2021.[78]
  • Manufacturing produced 16% of Travel & Tourism’s greenhouse-gas emissions in 2021.[78]
  • 3.41 billion tonnes of CO₂e were emitted by global Travel & Tourism in 2023.[79]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

Cross-border scale is reflected in accommodation and arrivals: international arrivals reached 1.54B in 2025.

Globalization in the travel industry

  • 359.9 million domestic guest nights were booked through online platforms in the EU in 2025.[61]
  • 50 million international tourist arrivals were received by landlocked developing countries in 2024, about 3.5% of the global total.[94]
  • 26.3 million platform-booked guest nights were recorded in Paris in 2025, the highest total among EU cities.[61]
  • 2.99 billion nights were spent in EU tourist accommodation in 2024, including 48% by international guests.[61]
  • 1.43 billion international guest nights were recorded in EU tourist accommodation in 2024, based on the 48% international share.[61]

Cultural adaptation in the travel industry

  • 249 million Europeans aged 15 or older took at least one overnight personal trip in 2024.[61]
  • 4.3 nights was the average stay length for international Airbnb guests travelling in the United States in 2023.[95]
  • 19.8% of nights on foreign trips by EU residents were spent in rented houses, villas, apartments or rooms in 2024.[61]
  • €1,053 was the average expenditure per foreign tourism trip by EU residents in 2024.[61]
  • 18.7% of nights on foreign trips by EU residents were spent in accommodation provided without charge by relatives or friends in 2024.[61]

Supplier management in the travel industry

  • 13.4 million platform-booked guest nights were recorded in Belgium in 2025.[61]
  • 52.1 million platform-booked guest nights were recorded in Greece in 2025.[61]
  • 49.5 million platform-booked guest nights were recorded in Portugal in 2025.[61]
  • 80% of Expedia Group’s worldwide revenue came from lodging in 2025.[96]
  • 952 million nights were booked through Airbnb, Booking and Expedia in the EU in 2025, representing platform demand supplied by participating accommodation providers.[61]

Stakeholder management in the travel industry

  • More than 100,000 cities and towns were visited by Airbnb guests in 2023.[95]
  • Nearly 600 US cities and towns welcomed their first Airbnb guest in 2023.[95]
  • More than USD 24 billion in tax revenue was associated with Airbnb-related activity in the United States in 2023.[95]
  • More than 2.5 billion guest arrivals had been recorded by Airbnb globally by 2024.[95]
  • More than USD 80 billion in visitor spending was generated by Airbnb guests in the United States in 2023.[95]

Distribution channels in the travel industry

  • 952 million nights were booked through online short-stay platforms in the EU in 2025.[61]
  • 2.6 million tourists stayed per night on average in EU accommodation booked through online platforms in 2025.[61]
  • 719.0 million nights were booked through online short-stay platforms in the EU in 2023.[61]
  • 512 million nights were booked through online short-stay platforms in the EU in 2019.[61]
  • 854.1 million nights were booked through online short-stay platforms in the EU in 2024, up 18.8% from 2023.[61]

16 Statistics

Regional markets

Regional lodging demand is large enough for city-level comparisons, such as Paris with 26.3 million platform-booked guest nights in 2025.

The travel industry in Europe

  • 1.9 billion nights were spent in EU hotels and similar accommodation in 2024, representing 63% of all tourism nights.[61]
  • 2.99 billion nights were spent in EU tourist accommodation establishments in 2024, up 2% from 2023.[61]
  • 680,848 tourist accommodation establishments operated in the EU in 2024, providing 29.741 million bed places.[61]
  • 48% of the 2.99 billion tourism nights in the EU in 2024 were spent by international guests, while domestic guests accounted for 52%.[61]

The travel industry in South Korea

  • 8.54 days was the average number of domestic tourism travel days per person in South Korea in 2024.[97]
  • 491 international conferences were held in South Korea in 2025, compared with 343 in 2024.[98]
  • 16.37 million inbound tourists visited South Korea in 2024, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.[98]

The travel industry in Canada

  • 265,800 businesses operated in Canadian tourism industries in 2024.[99]
  • 19.9 million foreign tourists visited Canada in 2024, an 8.6% increase from 2023.[100]
  • C$129.6 billion was generated in Canadian tourism revenue in 2024, up 4.6% from 2023.[100]
  • 702,700 tourism jobs were supported by domestic and international visitor spending in Canada in 2024.[99]
  • C$41.0 billion was contributed to Canada’s GDP by tourism in 2024, equal to 1.8% of overall GDP.[99]

The travel industry in France

  • 1.5 million direct tourism jobs existed in France in 2024, an increase of 23,500 jobs from 2023.[101]
  • 3.8% of France’s total GDP came directly from tourism in 2023.[101]
  • €71.1 billion in international tourism revenues were recorded by France in 2024.[101]
  • 100 million inbound tourist arrivals were recorded in France in 2024.[101]
  • €18.7 billion was invested in French tourism in 2024, up 9.3% from 2022.[102]

The travel industry in Middle East

  • 4.91 million international visitors arrived in Qatar in 2024, a 26% increase from 2023.[103]
  • 128 million passengers used Saudi Arabia’s airports in 2024, including 69 million international and 59 million domestic passengers.[104]
  • 115.9 million tourists visited Saudi Arabia in 2024, including domestic and inbound international tourists.[104]
  • 18.72 million international overnight visitors arrived in Dubai in 2024.[105]
  • 69% was Qatar’s average full-market hotel occupancy rate in 2024, up 11 percentage points from 2023.[103]

The travel industry in Spain

  • €121.5 was the average daily rate charged per occupied hotel room in Spain in 2024.[106]
  • €84.6 was the average revenue per available hotel room in Spain in 2024.[106]
  • 61.4% of Spanish hotel bed places were occupied on average in 2024.[106]
  • 363.6 million overnight stays were recorded in Spanish hotel establishments in 2024, up 4.9% from 2023.[106]
  • 241.7 million overnight stays by non-residents were recorded in Spanish hotels in 2024, up 7.5% year on year.[106]

The travel industry in United Kingdom

  • £78.7 billion was spent by UK residents on visits abroad in 2024.[107]
  • £31.6 billion was spent by overseas residents visiting the UK in 2024.[107]
  • 94.6 million visits abroad were made by UK residents in 2024.[107]

Key questions about the travel industry

What is the size of the travel and tourism market in 2025?
Travel and tourism contributed US$11.6 trillion to global GDP in 2025, equal to 9.8% of the world economy.
How fast is travel and tourism expected to grow?
WTTC forecasts Travel and Tourism to contribute US$16.5 trillion by 2035, implying about 3.5% average annual growth over the decade.
Which companies lead the travel industry?
Royal Caribbean Group and Hilton are tied at the top of Gitnux's 2026 travel ranking with an Overall score of 9.4 each.
Where are technology shifts showing up in travel operations?
AI adoption is widespread: 80% of surveyed travel companies use AI in some capacity, while 6% were actively scaling agentic AI in 2026.
How concentrated is travel distribution and supply online?
In the EU, online platforms including Airbnb, Booking and Expedia generated 951.6 million guest nights in 2025, up 11.4% from 2024.
What data and integration constraints affect personalization and analytics?
Only 11% of hotel owners and operators reported a fully integrated technology stack in 2026, while 91% relied on some manual reporting within automated workflows.
Reference

Cite This Report

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APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Travel Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/travel-industry-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Travel Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 10 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/travel-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Travel Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/travel-industry-statistics.

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