2007: Full Steam Ahead For International Tourism - Latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer . Exhibition and exhibition business news for Ukraine and all over the world

International tourist arrivals for the first eight months of 2007 point to a continuation of the sustained growth rate experienced over the past years. According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, this trend is likely to continue through the remainder of 2007, with year-end growth estimated at 5.7%, which would put international arrivals to 880-900 million.

2007 is set to be the fourth year of growth above the long-term average of 4.1% and is well on track to become the third consecutive year with a differential of about 1.5% above this long-term rate. Emerging destinations in Asia and the Pacific, Africa and the Middle East have been the main growth drivers. Although well above their respective long-term averages, the more mature regions of Europe and the Americas showed a more moderate pace.

While regional trends may vary as new data becomes available, Asia and the Pacific is currently the star regional performer, recording an increase through August of 10%, ahead of the Middle East and Africa, both with +8%.

Growth for both Europe and the Americas currently stands at +4% – one percentage point down on 2006’s level in the case of Europe, but twice the rate of growth of last year for the Americas. Travel expenditure figures continue on the rise, in line with the increase in international arrivals, with strong growth coming again from emerging markets: Brazil (+33%), Argentina (+24%), the Republic of Korea (+18%) and the Russian Federation (+16%) have recorded strong double-digit growth in spending.

Of the top five outbound markets, Germany (+6%), the USA (+4%) and the UK (+4%) have recorded reasonable rises during the first six to eight months of 2007, while available data for France and Japan point to stagnation. Among the more mature source markets, Italy and Spain (7th and 12th largest spenders, respectively) report the fastest growth so far this year at +9% each.

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