The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up the global economy. Some industries and regions were hit harder than others, and some industries even benefited from the effects of the coronavirus, but at the end of the day, the way business is conducted has been changed. Nobody knows for certain if things will ever get back to the way they were pre-pandemic, but there were many issues that were brought to light from COVID, and because of this some industries will recover faster than others. Here’s some industries that are expected to grow in the next 5 years:
Travel and Tourism
It is no surprise that the travel and tourism industries are expected to grow following their largest slump in recent history due to the pandemic. As borders closed, many people were forced to cancel their travel plans and stay home which severely impacted the industry as a whole. Now, vaccines are being administered worldwide and borders are reopening and as a result the travel industry is beginning to pick up again. As COVID-19 continues to get kept under control, the travel and tourism industries will grow even more as many people are eager to go on the trips that they were forced to cancel. Some specialized industries within the Travel umbrella that are expected to grow the most rapidly include:
- Travel Insurance: Unsurprisingly, travel insurance tops the list of highest revenue growths by industry for 2021-2022. In a year filled with uncertainty, people want to be able to be flexible with their travel plans and not have to eat the costs of trips they are forced to cancel due to travel restrictions. The travel insurance industry has experienced about 88% revenue growth in 2020-2021.
- Travel Agencies: Another industry within the travel and tourism umbrella, travel agencies are expected to experience about 70% revenue growth by the end of 2021. The revival of travel agencies can likely be attributed to people’s desire for confidence in their travel plans.
- Domestic and International Airlines: Both domestic and international airlines were hit hard by the pandemic, experiencing significant losses in revenue. As the world has gotten better at containing COVID, air travel has begun to return to normal levels. Airlines experienced around 62% revenue growth in 2021 and are expected to continue growing revenues as air travel picks up again in the next few years.
- Hotels and Casinos: Other industries that were severely impacted by the pandemic are hotels and casinos. Nobody was gathering in large groups which affected the casino business quite a bit. Hardly anyone was traveling and staying in places other than their homes, making hotels take a large hit as well. However, as things are getting back to normal, both hotels and casinos are expected to continue seeing strong growth in the coming years.
IT and Software
One of the industries that benefitted from the pandemic is IT and software. As many companies were forced to stop going into their offices, they had to embrace technology and learn to conduct business in new ways. Because of this, the IT and software industries have boomed, and with all the uncertainty around things going back to the way they were pre-pandemic, they are expected to continue growing. Additionally, as new technology emerges the need for cybersecurity and innovative software will grow. Since the start of the pandemic the need for software developers has increased by 25%. The cybersecurity market is projected to grow to $366 billion by 2028 and the cloud computing marketing is expected to rise to 760.9 billion by 2027.
Healthcare
Another industry that is no surprise to be included in this list is healthcare. During the pandemic, the demand for healthcare was extremely high even though some elective surgeries and other procedures were postponed. Healthcare workers had to work extremely hard to deal with the pandemic and in 2020, jobs in healthcare increased by about 35%. This is expected to continue as more technology advances change the way we view healthcare and create new jobs in the industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5 out of the 20 fastest-growing industries from 2019-2029 are in healthcare and social assistance. In recent years and with all the stress caused by the pandemic, there has been an increased emphasis on the importance of mental health. In 2020, jobs for mental health specialist increased by 24% and are projected to continue rising over the coming years.
The biomedical and biotechnology markets within healthcare are also growing at extremely high rates. In fact, the global market for biomedical and biotechnology is projected to increase by over $150 billion by 2025. Further down the line, this industry will continue to flourish as new technologies emerge and are adopted by healthcare provides worldwide.
Data Science and Analytics
As technology improves so will the need for data scientists, analysts, and engineers. The world is becoming more digital every year and the pandemic accelerated the digitization because companies were forced to go online. As companies depend more and more on digital systems to store their data and conduct business online, the data science and analytics industry will continue growing rapidly.
Digital Marketing
Shopping has changed in the last decade, with more and more people buying things online rather than taking a trip to the mall. The pandemic accelerated this trend of online buying even more, and companies are starting to focus more on their online presence in order to be successful in the new marketplace. Marketing was changed forever by the internet, and as the world becomes more digitized, so will the need for digital marketing. The digital marketing industry is on the rise, and it is projected to increase its hiring rate by around 33% post-pandemic.
