Tourism SMEs: (Digitalisation, drivers to job creating, growth and poverty reduction)

Tourism is one of the main economic sectors benefitting from globalisation. It is a networked industry which links and integrates different branches of the economy, and includes multinationals and a vast majority of small and medium enterprises. Tourism global value chains (GVCs) cover inbound and outbound tourism activities including distribution (travel agencies, tour operators), transportation, accommodation, culture and leisure. The future of tourism will be impacted by large-scale social, economic, political, environmental and technological changes, bringing new and often unseen challenges, threats and opportunities. Nowadays, the attention to the tourism sector is increasingly increasing, known as the largest space within economic activity, re-lying on and influencing the relevant economic resources.