Global tourism landscape shifts eastwards

Dubai: More than one in every seven persons travelled last year as the global tourism industry crossed the 1 billion mark in 2012 — a historic milestone, a top official said. The tourism landscape is shifting to the East.

International tourist arrivals grew 4 per cent last year to reach 1.035 billion, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). This marked an additional 39 million international tourists, up from 996 million in 2011, it said in a recent report.

Of this, 52.6 million people travelled in and out of the Middle East, which witnessed a decline of 4.9 per cent due to the impact of the Arab Spring.

“About 50 per cent of this traffic is originating from the developing and emerging markets,” Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the UNWTO, told Gulf News. “Ten years ago, the ratio was 60:40 in favour of the developed world while this is going to change to 60:40 in favour of the developing world in 10 years.”

He said that the European economic crisis poses a serious challenge to growth of the global tourism industry. “The industry also faces challenges due to socio-economic and political volatility,” he said.

Forecast for 2013

The UNWTO forecasts international tourist arrivals to increase by 3 to 4 per cent in 2013, much in line with its long-term forecast for 2030: +3.8 per cent a year on average between 2010 and 2020. This outlook is confirmed by the UNWTO Confidence Index.

This is the age of human mobility, he said, adding it would result in more people travelling across the world. “Travel is driven more than human needs. It’s a human right,” he said. “That’s why every year, 43 million new people are added to the travel and tourism industry. By 2020, more than 1.8 billion people will travel — cross border to stay out of their country for at least a night either on business, work or leisure.”

He said the tourism industry receipts crossed $1.2 trillion (Dh4.4 trillion) last year, which supports 9 per cent of the world’s employment.

“One in every 11 working people are employed by the tourism industry. It’s a great employment generating industry, considering that 197 million people are still unemployed worldwide,” he added.