Published on : Thursday, February 14, 2013
Albeit 2013 has many unknown risks in store, these will not affect the tourists travel plans.
According to Rolf Freitag, CEO of IPK International, 2013 has many unknown risks in store. “Besides existing challenges such as the European debt crisis, drastic rises in energy costs and in some cases food costs will also impact significantly on the travel industry.” However, he added that people were more relaxed about such crises than in previous years.
Worldwide, only 39% of the participants in the IPK study said the financial crisis would affect their plans for international travel, as opposed to 40% in 2011. Even more positively, 28% say they plan to travel more, compared to 23% in 2011; 41% about the same (40% in 2011) and just 21% plan to travel less (23% in 2011). Overall, IPK predicts 2-3% growth in outbound travel in 2013, driven once again by emerging markets.
For 2013, the UNWTO forecasts a slight slowdown in demand to growth of 2% to 4%. Michel Julian, UNWTO representative in Pisa, told the forum that the global tourism industry has so far proved resilient in the face of the current economic situation.
“That is quite remarkable, especially in view of the current economic challenges around the world,” he commented.
According to UNWTO, emerging countries in Asia and the Americas in particular will contribute to this year’s increase, whereas growth in Europe and North America is expected to continue at a more moderate pace.
|
||
   
|
||
