Leisure travel market to triple in worth to $19 trillion by 2040, report says
LONDON – You don't need statistics to know that airports and airplanes are crammed far more densely than they used to be. But a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) spells out just how quickly the travel industry is growing.
The company's global review of leisure travel, based on a survey of nearly 5,000 travelers, estimates that annual consumer expenditure on travel will triple to US$15 trillion (S$19 trillion) in 2040 from US$5 trillion in 2024. That catapults the industry ahead of both pharmaceuticals and fashion.
That momentum isn't coming from the US or Europe, the report suggests.
'Emerging markets are really going to drive significant growth, countries like China, India and Saudi Arabia,' says Lara Koslow, senior partner at BCG and one of the authors of the report.
Discussing the findings with Bloomberg, Ms Koslow says the growth of the middle class in these places is giving rise to consumers that are newly interested in leisure travel – just as the rise of the middle class in the US gave rise to a resort culture there many decades ago.
China is on course to become the country with the highest spending on leisure, which is predicted to increase more than 10 per cent a year.
'We all know that leisure travel is on the rise and that trend has been going on for a while,' says Ms Koslow. But she says she was surprised to find that 70 per cent of emerging market travelers add a leisure component to their work trips, a practice that's much less common in the United States.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore 3 out of 4 in Singapore cannot identify deepfake content: Cyber Security Agency survey
Singapore Ong Beng Seng's court hearing rescheduled one day before he was expected to plead guilty
Singapore Three hair salons raided in clampdown on touting, vice, drugs in Geylang and Joo Chiat
Singapore New $7.5m fund to encourage social service agencies to track impact of their programmes
Singapore GrabCab, Singapore's newest taxi operator, hits the roads with over 40 cabs to be rolled out in July
Singapore Police looking into claim by driver who caused teen's death that he was an NUS student
Asia Dalai Lama says he will have successor after his death
Business Cathay Cineplexes gets demand for $3.4 million in arrears from Jem landlord
Domestic trips within a traveler's home country represent a majority of the demand. But international leisure travel is growing at a faster clip. BCG forecasts that it will more than triple, from U $424 billion in 2024 to US$1.4 trillion in 2040.
Of course, the travel industry is difficult to quantify. Most estimates, like those from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), include things such as restaurant expenditures or the knock-on effects of hospitality workers contributing to their local economies; in April, the WTC estimated that the industry would reach US$11.7 trillion, or 10.3 per cent of the world's gross domestic product, by the end of 2025.
BCG's figures follow the same approach. Its latest study factors the evolution of travel patterns across 68 countries from 2014 to 2024; it also surveyed travelers in 11 countries whose populations either travel frequently or are likely to do so.
But BCG's research didn't take into account the current risks of trade wars or geopolitical conflicts that could scuttle travel across large regions such as the Middle East. Koslow says those situations are 'very unclear' at the moment.
However, the travel industry has been resilient, says Ms Koslow – an assessment that tracks with WTTC's outlook. And consumers' growing wanderlust has resulted in more people booking more last-minute trips, even in the face of all the economic uncertainty.
'People have this desire to indulge more in experiences and not miss out – carpe diem,' she says. 'We're seeing more people take that moment if they have it and really lean into it.' BLOOMBERG
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
12 minutes ago
- Straits Times
BYD sales hit new high in June after China's top EV maker slashed prices
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Despite the discounts, BYD sales barely grew month on month, putting it under pressure to hit its annual target for 5.5 million deliveries. BEIJING – BYD's sales climbed to a fresh monthly high for 2025 after a round of price cuts, though the move sparked scrutiny from government authorities and drew criticism from industry groups. The Chinese car-making juggernaut sold 377,628 passenger vehicles in June, including 206,884 battery electric cars. That was up 11 per cent from a year earlier, helping to push first-half volumes to 2.1 million units, according to a statement on July 2. But sales barely grew month on month, placing greater pressure on BYD's second-half strategy to hit its annual target for 5.5 million deliveries. The incremental rise in sales takes BYD's performance through June to 2.1 million units, but that means it needs to sell 559,000 units for each of the remaining six months on average At the same time, rival Geely Automobile Holdings sold more than 193,000 cars in June, a 59 per cent year-on-year increase. The showing prompted Geely to raise its delivery target for 2025 by 11 per cent to 3 million. The sales figures signal BYD's discounting of as much as 34 per cent across some models in late May didn't give it the sales bump it had hoped for. In its top-selling home market of China, the EV giant's passenger car sales have declined for three straight months and the scrutiny that's come alongside its price cuts cloud the outlook for the second half. Investor qualm about the hit to profit margins has wiped more than US$20 billion (S$25.5 billion) from the company's market value and the aggressive discounts have attracted the ire of policymakers, who chided the industry for 'rate race competition' and warned car companies they should self-regulate on prices. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore and Cambodia to expand collaboration in renewable energy, carbon markets and agri-trade Asia US, India push for trade pact after Trump strikes deal with Vietnam: Sources Business Microsoft cutting 9,000 jobs companywide in second major wave of layoffs this year Opinion How Apple gave 'the gift of fire' to Chinese electronics firms Life Sean 'Diddy' Combs to remain jailed ahead of sentencing, judge rules Singapore Granddaughter of Hin Leong founder O.K. Lim fails to keep 3 insurance policies from creditors' reach Asia Dalai Lama says only his organisation can name his successor; Beijing pushes back World Iran's nuclear programme degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says Still, even with domestic momentum in China slowing, BYD has managed to sustain strong growth in Europe. Data released by Jato Dynamics indicated the Chinese automaker almost matched Tesla's European registrations in May, building on its initial out-performance of its US rival in April. It nearly quadrupled European sales in the first four months of 2025, figures from researcher Dataforce show. Pressured by regulators, BYD has ended some discounts in China and joined a collective industry pledge to standardise bill payments for suppliers to 60 days as authorities scrutinize the use of supply chain financing as a form of debt. BYD meanwhile has shelved plans to build a major plant in Mexico over geopolitical tensions and uncertainty stemming from US President Donald Trump's trade policies. The company remains interested in expanding in the Americas but has no timeline to make a new investment, BYD executive vice president Stella Li said in an interview on July 2 in the Brazilian state of Bahia, where the company is opening its first factory outside Asia. 'Geopolitical issues have a big impact on the automotive industry,' Ms Li said. 'Now everybody is rethinking their strategy in other countries. We want to wait for more clarity before making our decision.' US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of US trading partners and separate taxes on certain imports including autos, upending industry supply lines. General Motors in June said it would spend US$4 billion in a plan to shift production of several pickup and SUV models from factories in Mexico to the United States. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
28 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Their Labubus are fake, and they do not care
NEW YORK - If your Labubu doll has more than nine teeth, or if it came in a box with a shiny bright finish, it may not be a Labubu at all. It may be a 'Lafufu'. Knockoffs of the wildly popular elflike doll, which are collectively called The Monsters and are sold exclusively by the Chinese toy retailer Pop Mart, have become almost as popular as the real thing - and they are much easier to find. Many of the real Labubus come in blind boxes with limited availability, so you do not know which one you are going to get until you open it, fuelling a sense of scarcity and surprise that adds to the appeal - and a growing resale market, where the dolls can go for much more than their US$20 (S$25.50) to US$30 retail price range. As keychains, the dolls have been wholeheartedly adopted by the fashion set ; it is not uncommon to see a $20 Labubu hanging from a $20,000 Birkin. The hype is real: A life-size version of one of the dolls recently sold for more than US$170,000 at auction, and Pop Marts in Britain briefly halted sales of the dolls in May after reports of chaotic crowd surges and fights among customers hoping to snag new releases. Yet 'Lafufus', as the fake figures are affectionately called, are also trending. Sold both in person (been to New York City's Canal Street recently?) and online at cheaper prices than their brethren's, they are much easier to find, even if they look a little… off. Ms Victoria Bystritsky, a 25-year-old analyst who lives in California, bought her first box of three real Labubus off the e-commerce platform Mercari for US$150 back in April. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore and Cambodia to expand collaboration in renewable energy, carbon markets and agri-trade Asia US, India push for trade pact after Trump strikes deal with Vietnam: Sources Business Microsoft cutting 9,000 jobs companywide in second major wave of layoffs this year Opinion How Apple gave 'the gift of fire' to Chinese electronics firms Life Sean 'Diddy' Combs to remain jailed ahead of sentencing, judge rules Singapore Granddaughter of Hin Leong founder O.K. Lim fails to keep 3 insurance policies from creditors' reach Asia Dalai Lama says only his organisation can name his successor; Beijing pushes back World Iran's nuclear programme degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says 'I saw a bunch of articles and people posting about them, so I was like, 'OK, I must have one,'' she said in an interview. But it was when her fiancé unwittingly purchased her a Lafufu at a gas station that her obsession with the dupes started. 'I was actually really excited to see what it would look like, because I'd seen TikToks of people unboxing the scariest looking Lafufus,' Ms Bystritsky said. 'And when I unboxed that Lafufu it was just so funny looking that I was like, 'Oh my gosh.'' Ms Bystritsky said that for her, the appeal of the Lafufus was to see just how terribly they mirrored the real thing. Her gas station Lafufu, for example, has crooked ears and bright pink eyes that are not available in any of the real dolls, which she said made it look 'freaky'. 'Honestly, the more botched they look, the better,' she added. Representatives for Pop Mart did not respond to a request for comment on the fakes. Perhaps the Lafufu appeal is rooted in the rise of dupes and super fakes , a growing trend among millennials and Gen Z-ers that seeks to normalise and destigmatise buying and owning counterfeit luxury products. There is no shame in this game. On the Labubu community on Reddit, users flock to share their secrets on the best places to score Lafufus (Shein and Alibaba are two favorites). And on TikTok, people proudly post Lafufu unboxing videos. 'Labubus? Nah I'm fully invested in my bald Lafufus,' Ms Bystritsky recently posted in a TikTok video showing off her dupes that's been viewed nearly 3 million times. Spotting a Lafufu requires a discerning eye: The real version should have exactly nine teeth and a peach pink face and should come in a matte box with an official QR code and a seal on its right foot that is visible only via UV lamp. Some of those qualities make Lafufus obvious, but when it comes to the truly good fakes, the differences can be as minimal as the stitching on the doll's accessories. Still, to some fans of Lafufus, they are just as covetable as the real thing. 'I've had people offering to buy it off of me,' Ms Bystritsky said of her pink-eyed gas station Lafufu. 'Someone offered me $200, but it's priceless to me.' NYTIMES
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
TikTok cuts more workers from US e-commerce division
[TAIPEI] TikTok is cutting more workers from its US e-commerce division, TikTok Shop, the third round of layoffs for that team since April. 'As the TikTok Shop business evolves, we regularly review our operations to ensure long-term success,' a spokesperson for the video-sharing app said on Wednesday (Jul 2). 'We have made the difficult decision to adjust parts of our team to better align with strategic priorities.' TikTok did not respond to the question of how many people are being cut. TikTok Shop's US operations have undergone a series of changes in the past few months following a year in which the division fell short of internal sales targets. TikTok Shop eliminated some jobs in April and enacted a second round of cuts in May, Bloomberg previously reported. The team has also been replacing US-hired staff near Seattle with managers connected to China – an effort to replicate the e-commerce success that parent company ByteDance has had in Asia. Despite the changes, TikTok Shop has been the social media app's fastest-growing business, and a major focus for ByteDance globally. Last year, TikTok Shop opened in five new countries in Europe, including Germany and Spain. TikTok's US future remains in limbo as the company faces a potential ban over national security concerns. Under a US law passed in 2024, Beijing-based ByteDance is required to divest TikTok to avoid being banned in the country. US President Donald Trump, who has extended the deadline for a divestment to mid-September, has said he has a buyer lined up for the app, and just needs approval from the Chinese government for the sale. BLOOMBERG
