[1] It is made up of members from the global business community and works with governments to raise awareness about the travel and tourism industry.

[4][2] The WTTC began in the 1980s with a group of business executives led by former American Express CEO James D. Robinson III.

[5] These initial members agreed on the need for a common effort to promote awareness of the economic contribution made by the travel and tourism industry.

The founding members provided investment and support to produce economic data that could demonstrate the importance of the industry.

It began releasing tourism impact information around the same time,[2] working with Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates to develop the data.

The WTTC formed a group known as the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) to compile and release the data.

During the 1990s, the WTTC expanded the activities of the council to include education and training, air transport liberalisation, taxation, and sustainable development.

The WTTC members are the chief executives, presidents, or chairs of companies from different sectors and regions within the travel and tourism industry.

[3] The foundation of the WTTC's research activity is a set of annually produced Travel & Tourism Economic Impact Reports.