US recession threatens world tourism market
If the US falls into a deep recession, the entire world tourism market could suffer, according to the World Tourism Organization.
But Francesco Frangialli, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), added he remained optimistic the number of tourists arriving in foreign countries would rise for the fifth consecutive year, albeit at a slower rate than last year.
“The best prediction we can give today is that we do not predict negative growth for 2008, except if the American economy falls into a deep recession followed by the rest of the world,” Mr Frangialli told a news conference, according to Reuters.
WTO experts last year were already warning that the growth of tourist arrivals would slow to around 4% this year from 6% in 2007 and 5.4% in 2006 on the back of economic uncertainties sparked by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Mr Frangialli emphasized that the US makes up only 10% of tourist receipts despite accounting for a quarter of the world’s GDP.
“We are cautiously optimistic for 2008, though we don’t think it will be as good a year as 2007,” he said.
John Kester, the WTO’s head of analysis, told Reuters it was too early to say whether the organization would cut its forecast of a 4% increase in arrivals for this year.
France was the world’s most popular tourist destination last year, followed by Spain, although in terms of tourist receipts, the US took the top spot with Spain again second.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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