Tourism industry slowdown this year but prospects bright for the next ten years!
This is the prediction from the latest research by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) published in March. But since then the world financial system has been shaken, but this report should give us hope that the catchphrase of “cautious optimism” to describe the mood in the hotel industry seems fairly justifiable.
It says that World Travel & Tourism is expected to generate close to US$8 trillion in 2008, rising to approximately US$15 trillion over the next ten years.
According to the WTTC President Jean-Claude Baumgarten, it is the continued strong expansion in emerging countries - both as tourism destinations and as an increasing source of international visitors which keep the prospects bright.
The study says that “Regionally Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East are experiencing higher growth rates than the world average, at 5.9%, 5.7% and 5.2% respectively, while the mature markets, most notably the Americas and Europe, are falling below the world average with a growth at 2.1% and 2.3 % respectively”
So who will win in this new emerging scenario? According to Alex Christou, Managing Partner of Accenture’s Transportation & Travel Services (Accenture partnered with WTTC in this research) said “High performance companies will differentiate themselves by being highly focused on their individual customers. The winners will be companies that take a balanced view, driving customer intimacy and product innovation while driving non-value added costs out of their operations.”
176 countries were covered in this WTTC research.