Foreword This white paper is the latest in a series of World Economic Forum publications, created in collaboration with Kearney and based on extensive stakeholder and export consultation, exploring the travel and tourism (T&T) sector’s transformation and its potential to become a global force for good. In particular, it builds on the recently released Travel and Tourism at a Turning Point: Principles for Transformative Growth. Published at a critical moment for the industry, that report underscored the immense growth potential of the sector, which is projected to contribute $16 trillion to global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2034, while also highlighting increasing tension points ranging from visitor and resident friction caused by an imbalance between visitor numbers and local capacity to the impact of global disruptions such as geopolitical tensions. Ten guiding principles were introduced to help stakeholders navigate these dynamics, setting out a vision of how travel and tourism could become not only an engine of prosperity but also a catalyst for resilience, inclusion and regeneration. This paper represents the next step in that journey by advancing the discussion to identify solutions to the aforementioned challenges. At its core, the T&T sector is not a single industry but a deeply interconnected system of systems. Airlines depend on airports and regulatory frameworks; hotels rely on utilities, local culture and digital platforms; destinations thrive only when local communities, small businesses, private-sector players, investors and other stakeholders align. A change in one part of the system reverberates quickly across the whole – whether positive, as in the multiplier effect of visitor spending, or negative, as in the cascading disruption from global shocks. As a result, sector challenges cannot be resolved by fragmented, siloed efforts. Instead, they demand ecosystem collaboration: a deliberate alignment of all stakeholders, from tourism companies and local communities to supporting industries, governments and civil society. The scope of this paper is therefore practical and action-oriented. It examines how ecosystem thinking can be operationalized in diverse contexts, drawing on global case studies that illustrate measurable results. It provides pathways for destinations, enterprises, policy-makers and communities to translate principles into practice, with a particular focus on enabling structures that connect different stakeholders around shared outcomes. The future of T&T will be written not by any single actor but by the collective choices of an interconnected community.Beyond Tourism: Coordinated Pathways to Inclusive ProsperityNovember 2025 Kiva Allgood Managing Director, Managing Board, World Economic Forum Bob Willen Global Managing Partner and Chairman, Kearney Ahmed Al-Khateeb Minister of Tourism, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Beyond Tourism: Coordinated Pathways to Inclusive Prosperity 3

Beyond Tourism Coordinated Pathways to Inclusive Prosperity 2025