China´s airlines, trains and bus companies have been ordered to prepare for a flood of passengers as tens of millions of Chinese head for their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday, an annual migration that began this month. During the month-long Spring Festival holiday which begins January 14, travelers in the world´s most populous nation are expected to make 2.04 billion trips, up 3.1 percent from last year, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Vietnam is being tipped as the next new tiger of tourism in Asia, according to Xu Jing, a representative of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Xu Jing told a Vietnam media that the nation is emerging as an attractive destination making great strides and progress in tourism promotion and development. “It has not only achieved impressive progress in its own right but it has also succeeded in making its impact in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.

The travel and tourism industry serves three main markets: domestic tourism by UK residents within the UK; outbound tourism by UK residents traveling abroad; and inbound tourism by overseas residents traveling to the UK. In 2004, total expenditure on UK travel and tourism was £70 billion, a rise of 4.8 percent from 2003. In 2004, a total of 239.8 million visits and 1.35 billion overnight stays were made.

Hilton Hotels led the U.S. hotel industry in new room additions, construction and brand conversions in 2005 and is projected to maintain that position at least through 2007, according to data from Lodging Econometrics. According to Lodging Econometrics (LE), a hotel real estate investment research firm, the Hilton Family of Hotels is expected to add approximately 170 hotels and 24,000 gross rooms to its system in 2005, up from 122 projects with 15,227 rooms in 2004, the year that Hilton became the hotel industry leader in number of new rooms added.

Despite the battering that Mexico´s Yucatan peninsula has received from hurricanes this year, authorities still expect the country will surpass the 21 million visitors logged in 2004. Many observers believe this is a target too tough to meet. In 2004, visitors spent $10.8 billion, equal to roughly 1.6 percent of the country´s GDP. This year revenues were expected to reach $12.0 billion. During the first half of the year, Mexico counted 11.3 million visitors, who spent $6.5 billion. The government expects that the country will receive over 40 million tourists within a decade.

While the number of international travelers using the Internet appears to have reached a plateau, those who plan and book trips or vacations online continues to climb rapidly, according to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA). The annual report, this year issued jointly with TIA co-sponsor and contributor USDM, shows that the Internet continues to grow as a dominant channel for both reaching and transacting with today´s travel consumers.