INTRODUCTION According to Alexander Eser (7/23/2024), tourism contributes about 10% of Europe's GDP. This makes Europe's economy increase significantly; jobs are created. Each year, Europe attracts millions of visitors, with countries like France, Italy, Greece,... Knowing how tourism impacts the Europe's economy helps lots of companies manage their activities. This research project examines the economic influence of tourism on Europe, assessing its contributions to GDP, job creation, and its broader effects on related industries. GLOBAL The economic growth created by tourism also increases job opportunities for those working in this industry. According to The World Bank. (2022, March 31), tourism contributed 10% of global GDP before COVID-19 happened. In countries where the main source of income is tourism, the economy can grow rapidly but can still drop suddenly. For example, the COVID-19 period, according to UNWTO (2022, January 13). In 2020, due to the severe impact of COVID 19, tourism's contribution to GDP decreased by 50%. Therefore, travel companies and tourism-related jobs are stopped. Tourism is booming as low-cost airlines start flying to Europe. This has attracted a lot of tourists. Cultural areas, restaurants, and resorts are packed with people. However, this leads to overcrowding that can overload infrastructure. According to the European Commission (2023, December 5), in 2023, Europe recorded nearly 2.92 billion tourists visiting resorts. First, Europe is expected to earn around $1 trillion in revenue by 2022 (WTTC, 2023). On the other hand, over-reliance on tourism has exacerbated the crisis. Switzerland and Iceland have seen inflation due to the demand for goods and services driven by tourism, leading to a rise in the cost of living locally (Tourism Impacts, 2023). NATIONAL France is one of the most visited countries in Europe, with around 90 million tourists traveling around the world. France also attracts tourism by having festivals, like Tour de France, Cannes Film Festival, or Fashion Week. In 2022, France recorded tourism contributing 7.4% of GDP, equivalent to 200 billion euros. Moreover, because of the advantage of having many tourists, many restaurants, shopping malls, and hotels benefit (UNWTO, 2023). In some famous places in France, for example, Paris, there are a lot of tourists. This leads to overtourism, which can cause economic crises, or large companies can go bankrupt due to insufficient infrastructure (UNWTO, 2023). COMPARE First of all, the GLOBAL section talks generally about the world and European economies. It outlines the consequences and impacts of tourism to Europe. Next, the NATIONAL section talks more specifically about the European economy, specifically France. This section focuses more on the economy that tourists create. Both sections have similarities, such as the factors contributing to GDP and employment or the impacts of over-reliance on the economy that tourism creates. Both global and national have the problem of infrastructure overload. COURSE OF ACTION In places that attract a lot of tourists, such as Paris, Bordeaux, or Nice, it will cause an overload of tourists and infrastructure. Therefore, crowded places like these can apply additional taxes on roads, traffic, or resorts and hotels. Doing so can significantly increase revenue as well as improve infrastructure. This also increases the safety of tourists. According to Saavedra, in April 2024, Paris increased the tourist tax to about 200%, set to be set at the beginning of January 2024. Some tourists who use high-end services or high-end resorts will have to pay up to 14.59 euros per night. This measure is still being applied in France, and countries like Italy have also applied this solution. EVALUATE SOURCES This website was published in March 2022, so it is quite reliable. It is highly relevant to tourism and its impact on the world economy. The World Bank is an organization that provides accurate, authoritative information. This site specializes in providing and analyzing information about the economic situation. The main purpose of this website is to help travel companies or those interested in tourism understand more about the economy to develop more. The WTTC (2023) website details the economic impact of tourism, focusing on the contribution of tourism to GDP. This source provides concrete figures. Its consistency with the World Bank findings reinforces its accuracy and reliability, positioning it as a key reference for understanding the quantitative impact of tourism. The article Tourism Impacts (2023) discusses the broader impacts of tourism, such as cultural change and local economic development. While the article provides clear information, the lack of clear authority reduces the credibility of the article. This source complements the idea of the two main sources, the World Bank and WTTC. CONCLUSION Tourism has a great impact on the European economy, such as economic development and GDP growth. However, overtourism causes infrastructure overload. France is one of the most visited countries by tourists from different countries. Globally, tourism contributes 10% to GDP. The number of tourists to France also increases about 7.4% of GDP by 2022. Tourist-populated areas such as Paris face problems that cause economic instability. Therefore, the solution is to increase tourist taxes in order to improve infrastructure, help tourists have a better experience, as well as ensure the safety of each visitor. This measure is still being implemented, especially in areas that attract many tourists. Initially, I thought that tourism doesn’t impact much on the economy of Europe. But when I started looking for information, I realized that overtourism can lead to inflation or rapid deterioration of infrastructure quality. BIBLIOGRAPHY - - - - - - UNWTO. (2023). International Tourism Highlights, 2023 Edition – The Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism (2020–2022), revised and updated in October 2023. World Tourism Organization. https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284424986 Tourism Impacts. (2023, November 28). Exploring the Social Impact of Global Tourism - Tourism Impacts. Tourism Impacts. https://www.tourismimpacts.org/2023/11/28/exploring-the-social-impact-of-global-touri sm/ WTTC. (2023). Economic Impact Research. Wttc.org. https://wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact EU tourism: an almost full recovery to pre-pandemic levels - European Commission. (2023, December 5). Joint-Research-Centre.ec.europa.eu. https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/eu-tourism-almost-fu ll-recovery-pre-pandemic-levels-2023-10-23_en UNWTO. (2022, January 13). UN report Underscores Importance of Tourism for Economic Recovery in 2022. Www.unwto.org. https://www.unwto.org/news/un-report-underscores-importance-of-tourism-for-econo mic-recovery-in-2022 The World Bank. (2022, March 31). Tourism and Competitiveness. World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/competitiveness/brief/tourism-and-competitivenes s
