IPK International´s World Travel Trend Report Bears Out Sustained Rebound in Global Travel, Tourism

Travel Industry Wire Preliminary indications published in the World Travel Trend Report, and expected to be confirmed by Mr. Freitag during his presentation of the annual Berlin Message at ITB 2006, suggested that tourism enjoyed another year of sustained recovery, and that international arrivals, or outbound trips, increased by between 5 to 6 percent over 2004.

“A number of long-haul destinations recorded double-digit increases out of Europe from January through August,” says Mr. Freitag, “among which China, Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam.”

But the best growth last year in Europe is sure to have come from the city-trip sector, up 15 percent in trip volume in the first eight months of 2005, following a 12 percent increase in 2004. Driving the growth for the second or even third year running was the boom in low-cost/no-frills airline travel, which is now the major factor dictating how European countries perform as tourist destinations.

As for long-haul markets into Europe, the trends of the first eight months of 2005 published in the World Travel Trend Report are expected to have been sustained through the whole of last year.

The U.S. outbound travel appears to have ended 2005 up around 7 percent (based on trends through the first ten months), although the growth trend to Europe was more modest at +5 percent.

More importantly, Europe´s share fell from 30 percent in 2000 to 30 percent last year and appears to be stagnating. And for individual countries in Europe, the trend is similar.

Terrorism, the Iraq war, economic challenges and the impact of oil price rises on household spending are just a few of the concerns plaguing potential American travelers today.