São Paulo – The World Tourism Organization (WTO), an agency of the United Nations, shows in a report published this month that there is a “clear” reversal of the decline in tourism seen in the first half in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Japan. The former two are at the epicentre of the so-called Arab Spring and the latter was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami early this year.
“We are very encouraged to see demand picking up in such important tourism destinations and call for continued support to these countries which are today fully ready to receive travellers from all over the world,” said the secretary general of the WTO, Taleb Rifai, according to a statement published by the organization.
The news is important, because tourism in North Africa was badly affected by the popular uprisings that erupted in the region. The number of visits, according to the WTO, dropped by 13% in the first half of 2011 when compared with the same period of last year. It is worth noting that the industry accounts for a significant share of the Egyptian and Tunisian economies.
Not all North African nations have been affected, though. According to the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism, the country received 5.8 million visitors in the first six months of the year, a 3.4% increase over the same period of 2010. The industry posted US$ 4 billion in revenues, 9.6% more using the same basis of comparison.
In the Middle East, tourism also suffered due to the Arab Spring. In the first half of last year, visits to the region had increased 15% as against the first six months of 2009. It was the region where tourism grew the most during that period. In 2011, however, the flow decreased by 11%.
This year, South America overtook the Middle East as the region where international tourism grew the most in the first half. According to the WTO, the number of visits grew by 15.4% in comparison with the same period of 2010.
In the American continent as a whole, tourism grew by 6% in the first half, and North and Central America and the Caribbean grew at a much lower rate than South America. Already in 2010, South America had performed well than the other parts of the continent.
Worldwide, international tourism grew by 4.5% from January to June and the number of visits reached 440 million. To Rifai, such performance in troubled times, what with the Arab uprisings, Japanese catastrophe and world economy crisis, makes the case for the industry and “reinforces our call to consider tourism as a priority in national policies.”
“Tourism can play a key role in terms of economic growth and development, particularly at a moment when many economies, for the most part in Europe and North America, struggle for recovery and job creation,” said the executive.
As early as the end of this year, however, a slowing down of the rate of world tourism growth is possible as a result of the worsening of the European economic crisis. “One must be cautious as the global economy shows signs of growing instability and nervousness,” said Rifai.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
