International tourism on track for another strong year
Share news
Listen
An estimated 460 million international tourist arrivals were recorded worldwide in the first seven months of 2005. This represents an increase of some 25 million arrivals compared with the respective period of 2004, or 5.9% growth, according to the preliminary data gathered for the new issue of the WTO World Tourism Barometer, presented on Monday, the first day of the WTO international conference on the Tourism Satellite Account in the Iguazu region.
The year-to-date increase is very much in line with WTO’s initial forecasts for the twelve months of 2005. According to the updated forecast in this Barometer, the year as a whole is expected to end with an increase of 5 to 6%. Global tourism trends confirm that growth has slowed. The first quarter’s 9% rise halved in the second quarter (+4%), partly as a result of early Easter holidays, which fell in March this year. Month-on-month growth for March is estimated at +15%, with April at 0%, May at +7%, June at +6% and July at +5%.
This slowdown was to be expected, as tourism tends to grow faster in the shoulder season than in the high season. This is because available transport and accommodation capacity can be a constraint at times of peak demand. On the other hand, it is also a sign that world tourism is entering a more sustained phase of growth.
Leisure tourism has once again outperformed business tourism, boosted by the increasing availability of low fares for short-haul travel and by pent-up demand still being released for long-haul destinations. But anecdotal evidence points to a recovery in demand for business tourism, including the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) sector. Cruise tourism has also recorded above-average growth this year so far.
Regarding the natural disasters and bomb attacks which have occured this year, the industry has once again proved how resilient it is to shocks. In terms of consumer behaviour, it is quite evident that travellers have been undeterred by external threats. They may have led to temporary shifts in travel flows, but they have not stopped people travelling. It is too early to assess the likely impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which occurred only last month. It will certainly take time to get New Orleans–one of the United States’ top leisure tourism and convention destinations–back on the map. The cruise industry’s capacity has also been temporarily reduced, as the US Government decided to charter various ships to house emergency services personnel following the hurricane.
Most regions and subregions have enjoyed sustained growth in tourism demand during the first seven months of 2005, despite normal fluctuations from one month to another. Available information suggests that Africa and Asia-Pacific are the best-performing regions of the world so far this year (+9% each). The Americas is enjoying another good year with region-wide growth averaging 7% through the end of July. Growth for Europe in the same period is estimated at 5% and that for the Middle East at 3%.
Central America (+15%) is by far the leading subregion in terms of growth, ahead of North-East Asia (+12%) and South America (+10%).
