International tourism arrivals have returned to pre-global downturn levels, according to World Tourism Organisation figures.
The UNWTO World Tourism Barometer shows worldwide arrivals between January and August this year reached 642 million, 40 million more than last year (7% up) and one million more than the same period in 2008.
The organisation has revised its forecast for the full year to growth of 5%- 6% for 2010 instead of 3%-4%. Next year’s growth is expected to be more moderate at about 4%.
UNWTO secretary-general Taleb Rifai said: “We are back to the levels of performance that we had in 2008 for the first time. So far we have been struggling to get back to where we were.”
But international tourism receipts and expenditure continued to lag behind arrival figures, he added.
Rifai warned that Europe, in particular, was continuing to struggle to recover. Citing unemployment as a major issue, he said: “Recovery is still shaky and it could be easily reversed.”
Asia and the Pacific was the first region to show signs of recovery, posting 14% growth in international arrivals up to August this year.
Meanwhile, the UNWTO announced the first Global Tourism Forum would be held in Andorra in 2011. The forum will be held annually for the next five years and bring together key decision makers and political leaders.
Andorra was chosen as more than 50% of its population work in the tourism sector.
- More from World Travel Market at travelweekly.co.uk/wtm2010