Tourism leaders respond to economic downturn
A “resilience committee†to provide accurate economic analysis and response mechanisms has been created in the face of global economic crisis.
The move by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation comes as the tourism sector suffers from reduced consumer demand due to the credit crunch.
International tourism registered five per cent growth in the first half of 2008, compared to the same period last year.
But the slowdown began with the summer holidays in the northern hemisphere, according to the organisation.
The UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, which up until then maintained favourable views of the sector’s situation, now shows a “perceptible loss of confidence regarding the short-term outlookâ€.
UNWTO secretary general Francesco Frangialli said: “Experience teaches us that tourism is resilient, but there is no denying that there is a certain stage of deterioration of the situation beyond which all economic sectors will begin to suffer.â€
The organisation’s executive council has agreed:
• To create of a Resilience Committee open to all of its public and private sector members.
• To support this work with state of the art information with special focus on air transport and major origin markets.
• To provide its members with ICT-based up-to-date information on these impacts and emerging response initiatives.
A full assessment of the world’s tourism results for the first eight to nine months of 2008 and a 2009 forecast will be presented in the next edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer at World Travel Market in London next month.
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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