Good Prospects for South American Tourism in the Near Future

Preliminary results for the first four months of 2006 point to some 236 million international tourist arrivals worldwide, or 10 million more than in the same period of 2005, reflecting the sustained growth in global tourism demand started in 2004.

These are the findings based on the data gathered by the United Nations specialized agency, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), for January through April 2006, as presented in the latest issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.

Although the rate of growth has slowed slightly, in line with the forecast published in the January issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, 2006 has got off to a good start, with the first four months of the year recording a 4.5 percent growth in international tourist arrivals worldwide.

On a month-by-month basis, growth is estimated at 4 percent for both January and February, compared with the same months the previous year.

March´s total count was 1 percent down –due to the fact that, in 2005, Easter fell in the month of March but was in April this year- but strong demand over the 2006 Easter period resulted in an 11 percent rise in April.