International tourism grew by almost 5% in the first half of 2011 reaching a new record of 440 million arrivals. While the number of international arrivals continues to grow this year, consolidating the global recovery, it is doing so at a slower rate than 2010 as the industry faces multiple challenges.
Data from the UNWTO shows International tourist arrivals have grown by 4.5% in the first half of 2011, consolidating the 6.6% increase registered in 2010. Between January and June of this year, the total number of arrivals reached 440 million, 19 million more than in the same period of 2010.
UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai (pictured), says continued growth of tourism in an uncertain economy makes the case for governments to consider tourism as a priority in national policy making.
‘Tourism can play a key role in terms of economic growth and development, particularly at a moment when many economies, for the most part in Europe and North America, struggle for recovery and job creation,” he said.
Looking at growth at a regional level, international arrivals across the Asia Pacific climbed at a steady 5% compared to 13% in 2010. This is slightly slower than the Americas (+6%) and Europe (+6%), which actually benefited from political unrest across North Africa and the Middle East. This cooling of Asia Pacific arrivals growth is down to a string of serious natural disasters in the region and waning outbound travel from traditional source markets like America, Europe and Japan.
Following an encouraging first half of 2011, the UNWTO warns that growth in the remainder of the year is expected to soften as recent months have witnessed heightened economic uncertainty, hampering business and consumer confidence.
“We must remain cautious as the global economy is showing signs of increased volatility,” said Rifai. “Many advanced economies still face risks posed by weak growth, fiscal problems and persistently high unemployment. Simultaneously, signs of overheating have become apparent in some emerging economies. Restoring sustained and balanced economic growth remains a major task”.
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