Travel News Europe - #88 - November 2008 - (Page 1)

TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE The information you need to make decisions www.travelnewseurope.com November 2008 Issue 88 inside NEWS n n UNWTO: Tourism & The Financial Crisis U NWTO’s Executive Council has agreed to create a ‘Resilience Committee’ to support its members with accurate economic analysis and response mechanisms to the economic crisis. The tourism sector is already suffering from reduced consumer demand, both business and leisure, and tourism businesses are already feeling the credit crunch. International tourism registered solid growth in the first half of 2008 – at around 5% January - April, compared to the same period in 2007. The slowslow down began with the summer holidays in the northern hemisphere. The UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, which, up until the summer months maintained favourable views of the sector’s situation, now shows a perceptible loss of confidence regarding the short-term outlook. Addressing the Executive Council, 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.” Signs of an economic downturn emerged in early 2008. Although dede mand still produced solid growth figures in that period, UNWTO comcom missioned a study of the impacts of economic scenarios on the sector. An outline of ‘Global Imbalances and Structural Change in World Tourism’ was discussed during the Executive Council: 1) The economic shocks and crisis of the current year. 2) Analysing of the impacts on world tourism. 3) Identifying key factors of change. Financial Crisis Impacts New Zealand’s Visitor Arrivals Dusit sees more potential in short haul markets n‘Seoul – Asia’s hidden treasure’ free Lonely Planet Booklet n WTM News Pages 12 — 15 DESTINATIONS Tanzania India PAGE 16 PAGE 17 ‘Global Imbalances and Structural Change in World Tourism’ will be presented at UNWTO’s Ministers’ Summit at WTM on 11 November BUSINESS Winter Holidays Exhibitions PAGE 20 PAGE 22 In considering these matters, members the UNWTO Executive Council confirmed the deterioration in their own markets, while maintaining the long-term confidence in the resilience of the tourism sector. The challenge lies ahead – late 2008 and the first half of 2009, when the economic slowdown is expected to be more widely felt and consumers may cut back further on their travel expenditures. The Executive Council therefore agreed: 1) To create of a Resilience Committee open to all of its public and private sector members. 2) To support this work with state of the art information with special focus on air transport and major origin markets. 3) To provide its members with ICT-based up-to-date information on these impacts and emerging response initiatives. The final version of ‘Global Imbalances and Structural Change in World Tourism’ will be presented at UNWTO’s Ministers’ Summit at WTM (London) on 11 November. A full assessment of the world’s tourism results (first 8-9 months of 2008) and a 2009 forecast will be presented in the next edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, to be released at WTM. http://www.travelnewseurope.com http://www.europcar.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Travel News Europe - #88 - November 2008

Cover&Contents
NEWS
WTM News Pages
DESTINATIONS - Tanzania
DESTINATIONS - India
BUSINESS - Winter Holidays
BUSINESS - Exhibitions

Travel News Europe - #88 - November 2008