Asia Pacific travel in rapid slump
LONDON – Confirmation of the rapid slowdown in global tourism has been provided by figures from the latest edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.
The growth in international tourist arrivals fell to less than 2% in June, and 1% in the peak travel months of July and August showing that energy prices, inflation and the credit crunch started to have a real impact on travel and tourism demand.
Asia and the Pacific was the region whose growth has deteriorated most rapidly so far and after 18 consecutive months of sustained growth,declining from March onwards and even sliding into negative growth in August.
Asia and the Pacific’s growth (+4%) is also well behind its 2007
level, with Oceania and North-East Asia suffering the brunt of the downturn in demand.
The Middle East is once again the star performer in 2008 so far,
with growth for the period January through August estimated at 17%.
Overall growth for 2008 is still projected at around 2%, building on the strong results of the first five months.
Given the current stress on many companies’ balance sheets, UNWTO believes business travel is expected to be more adversely impacted than the leisure segment.
Some major points from the UNWTO Barometer:
– traffic to closer destinations, including domestic travel, is
expected to be favoured as compared to long-haul travel;
– segments such as visiting friends and relatives, repeat visitors, as well as special interest and independent travellers are expected to be more resilient;
– the decline in average length of stay as well as on expenditure is projected to be more pronounced than in the overall volume;
– destinations offering value for money and with favourable exchange rates have an advantage as price becomes a key issue;
– companies will and should concentrate on containment of cost in order to keep their competitive edge.
Ian Jarrett
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