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Tourism in English-Speaking Countries

Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries. One in ten jobs around the world is related to tourism. Every country in the world wants to be a part of this industry and attract as many and as wealthy tourists as possible.
Photo: We see the Taj Mahal, which is a mausoleum made of white marble. We see many people outside the building.
Tourists outside the Taj Mahal in India. Image: Christopher John SSF / CC BY 4.0

English is the lingua franca of tourism

When people travel around the world, even to remote, exotic destinations, they expect to be able to use English and be understood. English is the language used by air traffic controllers, in airports, and on planes.

In countries where English is a foreign language, it is common for people in the tourism industry to learn English to communicate efficiently with their guests. As tourism grows in an area, workers in related service industries will usually learn English as well in order to be able to offer goods and services to tourists and generate more income.

How important is tourism?

By looking at the gross national product of some English-speaking countries, we get an impression of the importance of the tourism industry.

What is GDP (gross domestic product)?

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the most commonly used measure for the size of an economy. Put simply, GDP refers to the value of all goods and services that are produced to be sold, minus the value of the goods and services needed to produce them.

You can learn more about GDP by following this link: link to article and video about GDP on Eurostat's website

  • In 2019, the USA got 7.8% of its gross domestic product from the tourism industry. By comparison, 5% of the USA's GDP comes from agriculture, while oil contributes 8%.

  • It is estimated that by 2025, tourism will constitute just under 10% of the UK’s gross domestic product. In the UK, the service sector, of which tourism is a part, is by far the largest and most important sector, both in terms of revenue and in terms of the number of employees.

  • In India, tourism contributed 122 million US dollars to the GDP in 2020, which equals around 4%. This was a decline from pre-pandemic numbers: in 2018, tourism contributed around 248 million US dollars to India’s GDP. Estimates indicate that the numbers may rise as high as 512 million dollars by 2029.

  • In New Zealand, tourism generated a direct annual contribution to GDP of 5.5% which amounts to around 16.4 billion New Zealand dollars. There was also a further indirect contribution of $11.3 billion NZD, which amounts to another 3.8% of New Zealand's total GDP. In 2019, 225 384 people were directly employed in tourism in New Zealand, and another 158 802 were employed in related industries – 13.6% of the total number of people employed in the country.

  • In 2019, tourism in Australia accounted for 3.1% of the national GDP, contributing $60.8 billion to the Australian economy. Tourism directly employs around 5% of the workforce. In 2018–2019, tourism was Australia’s fourth largest exporting industry, accounting for 8.2 per cent of Australia’s exports earnings.

  • In South Africa, tourism has contributed around 3% to the GDP for the past decade. In 2017, the direct contribution of the tourism sector to the country's GDP was 130.3 billion South African rand.

Match the flags and the tourist destinations:

Here, you will find the flags of the UK, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa. There are also pictures of one tourist destination from each country. Match the tourist destinations and the flags.

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