Published on : Friday, July 4, 2014
As the powerful nations gather for the G20 summit in Brisbane this November, the basic mandate will be to discuss measures to support global economic growth, which will cover trade liberalisation, investment and infrastructure development.
These discussions are of paramount importance for tourism – an industry that relies solely on the free movement of people and goods. Issues such as waiving visa restrictions are central to the mandate of agencies such as the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. In fact, at a time when we believe that people can travel freely wherever and whenever they like to, an astonishing 110 million international tourists – or 17% of all international arrivals – still require paper visas to be able to visit G20 countries.
Bringing down barriers through visa requirements is essential for international tourism. Research by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in 2014 showed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would gain between six and 10 million international tourist arrivals by 2016 if they improved the visa processes.
Tourism relies on safe destinations and political security, something that cannot be emphasised enough in the light of current “conflict hotspots” globally (including the Middle East, Ukraine, and the South China Sea). Some even point to tourism as a force for peace as it fosters inter- cultural understanding and friendly exchange between nations.
Directly, the summit leads to travel of those participating in it. What could be coined “political tourism”, political meetings and conferences induce substantial amounts of travel. For the G20 in Brisbane it is expected that there will be about 4,000 delegates (some of whom will arrive with their families), 3,000 media, and 5,300 police from interstate and New Zealand.
Business tourism is often overlooked when tourism is discussed, but the WTTC established a compelling link between business travel and global trade: one third of growth in trade globally over the last ten years can be attributed to business-related travel and resulting increases in corporate productivity. WTTC’s analysis further shows that if business travel was reduced by one quarter for two consecutive years, global GDP would be 5% lower than if travel continued as normal.
The average business tourist in Australia spends A$280 per night, compared with a holiday visitor who spends $162.
Analysis of the economic benefits of G8 and G20 summits valued the 2009 and 2010 US and Canada summits at US$135 million and US$95.4 million respectively. The benefits measured included the spending of participants and long-term effects of increased investment, infrastructure and training. Similar numbers have been predicted for the Brisbane summit too.
Tags: WTTC
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