Travel worldwide is up by 5.6%, according to the October 2007 issue of UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. From January to August, destinations worldwide received an estimated 610 million international tourist arrivals, compared with 578 million during the same period in 2006. Year-end growth is estimated at 5.7%, maintaining an above-average growth rate. Growth has been very much driven by emerging destinations in Asia and the Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, while the more mature regions of Europe and the Americas are growing at a more moderate pace. Asia and the Pacific are the current star performers with a 10% increase. The UNWTO Barometer shows that Germany, the USA and the UK recorded reasonable rises in travel spending abroad for the first eight months of 2007, while France and Japan showed stagnation in spending. Double-digit growth in spending is also reported for Brazil (+33%), Argentina (+24%), South Korea (+18%) and Russia (+16%).
Germany is set to reinforce its number one world ranking in 2007, in terms of international tourism expenditure, thanks to a rise of over 6% from January through August this year.
The USA recorded a 4% rise in outbound travel spending for the period, with only a 1% rise in outbound air trip volume. Furthermore, the report indicates that US consumer confidence as measured by the WTO Conference Board panel has been on the decline for three consecutive months since August and this is likely to dampen demand for outbound travel sooner or later.