Industry Analysis & Industry Trends
The global tourism industry is worth an estimated $856 billion in 2011, up 1.7% per annum over the past five years. However, this hides a strong decline in 2009 (down 3.6%) as the global economy sunk into recession and tourist numbers fell sharply. Steady growth of 4.5% in 2011 indicates a return to better conditions for the industry as international visitor numbers increase.
Data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization indicates that although the industry generally began to recover in 2010, it was an uneven recovery. Total international arrivals increased 6.7% to 935 million. Growth was fastest in emerging economies, up 8.0%, while international tourist numbers in advanced economies only improved 5.0% during the year.
During 2009, international arrivals fell 6.0%.. read more
Industry Locations
The key factors affecting the regional distribution of this industry include a region's share of global population. This is important in terms of the actual volume of people available to travel. The region's share of global GDP is also important in terms of the population's available discretionary income and the region's share of global economic activity
The relative geographic location of a country and the ease of travel to other countries is a major factor affecting tourism levels, particularly across the United Kingdom and Western and Eastern Europe. Travel by auto, as well as by air, is available to many short haul tourist destinations for short or longer breaks.
In some countries the population has a lower propensity or desire to travel internationally... read more