The travel and leisure industry comprises of several industries that make up its network. These industries include art and attractions, exhibitions and dining, travel music and leisure activities, gambling, sports activities, lodging options and vacation destinations apart from companies that offer various forms of recreation and leisure. The travel and leisure industry is supported mainly because the general public places utmost importance upon taking annual vacations for the purposes of relaxation or education. Overall the travel and leisure industry can be summed up into four main sectors: entertainment, tourism, travel and recreation.

Entertainment consists of any activity that provides the general public with pleasure and relaxation during leisure time. Some of these activities include watching television, drama and stage performance, opera, attending theater, attending sports event and playing variety of board games or video games.

The recreation activities are intended at therapy that provides mental, emotional and physical well-being of the mind and body. Some of the recreational activities include writing, art, yoga, attending restaurants, trips to amusement parks however there are other latest forms that include adventure tourism, motor sports and extreme events such as bungee jumping, skies diving and underwater diving in deep seas have emerged in this realm as well. The tourism sector consists of travel and our agencies that manage, plan and facilitate the travel completely. Tour agencies are often used by the public to book trips and vacations and as such ensure a smooth travel. There are many types of travel forms for those travelling on trips and vacations including air, sea, and road and as well as rail. Cruises are popular for travel and leisure industry as are a variety of destination resorts worldwide.

The general entertainment industry is formed by a variety of sub-groups that create and uphold the groundwork for the general entertainment industry at large. Exhibition entertainment includes amusement parks, trade shows, and/or fairs. Mass media is made up of film, the internet, and broadcasting, amongst others. Electronic entertainment is mainly composed of video games. E-books and web based entertainment is becoming popular as well and the general public is able to watch movies and shows online itself. Radio and digital downloads are readily available online as well. Companies and sub-industries are constantly in competition with each other for viewership, subscriptions, and sales are another sub-section of general entertainment.

Leisure is the times spend away from ones regular schedule be it works, business or domestic chores. Time for leisure varies from one society to the next.

Travel & Leisure Industry Current Trends

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates a 4.5 per cent per annum increase in the total amount of travel and tourism economic activity between 2002 and 2012. This is largely credited to a rise in global wealth, liberalization of international airspace, cheaper flights and the use of the Internet as a travel tool. The earnings from tourism have made it one of the world’s largest industries and the fastest growing sectors of global trade accounting for 10.7 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), 12.8 per cent of global exports, 8.2 per cent of global employment (or one in every 12.2 jobs), and 9.4 per cent of global capital investment.

International tourism flows are expected to reach 1.5 billion by 2020 and revenue estimated to cross $2000 billion according to The World Travel and Tourism Council. Today, only 3.5 per cent of the world population travels internationally but the number of Asian, particularly Chinese, tourists is predicted to grow enormously as the region becomes more integrated with global economy.

Major Travel & Leisure Industry Players

The scale of world domestic tourism, on the other hand, exceeds world international tourism by a ratio of 10:1.  With this gradual shift in focus, the outlook for the growth of tourism in the region is promising. In Asia, China has emerged as a leading tourist destination and is poised to become the world’s top tourist destination by 2020. India receives the largest number of overseas tourists from the United Kingdom, which is its largest source market, followed by the United States, Sri Lanka, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Australia and Singapore. The WTTC has identified India as one of the world’s foremost tourist growth centers in the coming decade. After Turkey, India is expected to achieve the fastest rate of growth of the total amount of economic activity likely to be generated by travel and tourism, at 9.7 per cent over the next 10 years. Other Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Dubai and the Maldives will remain attractive destinations. The top tourist destinations of 2011 are Paris- France, Las Vegas- Nevada, Rome- Italy, New York City- New York, London- England, Florence- Italy, Tokyo- Japan, Sydney- Australia, San Francisco- California and Melbourne- Australia.