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Global tourism undaunted by terror attacks
International tourism once again demonstrated its resilience in turbulent times with global tourist arrivals increasing almost 6% in the first seven months of the year, according to the World Tourism Organisation.
It said the Boxing Day tsunami and bombings in London, Turkey and Egypt has not noticeably dented the appetite for travel with 460 million tourists recorded worldwide to the end of July, up from last year’s 435 million.
The increase is in line with the WTO’s year-end forecast of 5% to 6% growth.
“The industry has once again shown how resilient it is to shocks,” a spokesman said. “In terms of consumer behaviour, it is quite evident that travellers have been undeterred by external threats.
“At the global level the impact of such shocks has been negligible. They may have led to temporary shifts in travel flows but they have not stopped people travelling. At a local level the impact can be severe in the affected areas but in most cases this is surprisingly short-lived.”
The WTO said it was too early to measure the impact of the hurricanes that ripped through the US while experts on the WTO panel warned that the high costs of fuel could eventually take their toll and slow economic growth.
Leisure tourism outperformed business travel although the corporate sector is believed to be showing.
Africa and Asia Pacific showed the strongest growth, 9%, with arrivals to the Americas rising 7%, Europe 5% and Middle East 3%.
Report by Steve Jones
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