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Global tourist arrivals up 5pc in H1

Madrid, September 2, 2013

The international tourist arrivals surged by 5 per cent during the first half compared to the same period last year reaching almost 500 million, according to data just released by The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

The growth was above the projection made at the beginning of the year (over 3 per cent to 4 per cent) and is also exceeding the trend of the UNWTO long-term outlook Tourism Towards 2030 (over 3.8 per cent a year), said the report.

Destinations around the world welcomed an estimated 494 million overnight visitors in the first six months, according to the Advance Edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer released on the occasion of the UNWTO 20th General Assembly in Madrid, Spain.

This represents an increase of 5 per cent or an additional 25 million international tourists compared to the same period of 2012.

According to UNTWO, the Middle East rebounded after two years of negative growth with an estimated increase in international arrivals of 13 per cent.

Yet, results should be taken with caution as growth is rather uneven across destinations and this assessment is based on still limited available data and reflects data up to June only, the UN body stated.

The growth was stronger in emerging economy destinations (over 6 per cent) than in advanced economies (over 4 per cent), a trend which has marked the sector for many years now, said the report.

“The fact that international tourism grew above expectations confirms that travelling is now part of consumer patterns for an increasing number of people in both emerging and advanced economies,” remarked Taleb Rifai, the secretary-general.

“This underlines the need to rightly place tourism as one of the key pillars of socio-economic development, being a leading contributor to economic growth, exports and jobs,” he stated.

In a still uneven global economic environment, results were positive in all regions and subregions, though the overall picture was mixed. Europe (over 5 per cent) performed surprisingly stronger than expected, driven by Central and Eastern Europe (over 10 per cent) and Southern and Mediterranean Europe (over 6 per cent).

Asia and the Pacific (over 6 per cent) also exceeded expectations, boosted by South-East Asia (over 12 per cent) and South Asia (over 7 per cent). On the other hand, results were weaker than anticipated in the Americas (over 2 per cent), as South America and the Caribbean lagged behind.

The first semester normally accounts for some 45 per cent of the total arrivals count of the year (the Northern hemisphere high season months of July and August fall into the second semester).

The growth is expected to continue in the second half of 2013 but at a gradually slower pace. UNWTO forecasts 2013 to end at 4 per cent or slightly above, thus exceeding the initial estimate for the year, said Rifai.

Asia and the Pacific (over 6 per cent) saw robust growth boosted by the increase in arrivals to South-East Asia (over 12 per cent), a subregion which is maintaining the extraordinary momentum of recent years, and South Asia (over 7 per cent).

In Europe, international tourist arrivals were up 5 per cent despite the lingering economic difficulties. Growth was led by Central and Eastern Europe (over 10 per cent) and Southern and Mediterranean Europe (over 6 per cent).

The Americas (over 2 per cent) reported a rather weaker first half of 2013 compared to the strong growth of previous years. Central America (over 4 per cent) performed above the region’s average, while arrival numbers were flat in the Caribbean and in South America.

In Africa (over 4 per cent), the growth of recent years was sustained during the first half due to the continued recovery of North Africa (over 4 per cent) and the positive results of Sub-Saharan destinations (over 4 per cent).

According to Rifai, emerging economy outbound markets continue to drive growth both to emerging and advanced economy destinations.

China with over 31 per cent and Russia with 22 per cent growth led the boom in expenditure on travel abroad among the top ten most important source markets in the world during the first half. "Outside the top ten, Brazil is back with a 15 per cent increase after a more moderate 2012," he stated.

Expenditure from traditional markets, on the other hand, was more modest. Canada (over 3 per cent) and France (over 2 per cent) led the group, followed by the US, Germany and the United Kingdom, and negative figures from Japan, Australia and Italy, he added.-TradeArabia News Service




Tags: UN | travel | tourists | international |

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