News

THE UK travel and tourism industry is set to return to pre-September 11 levels with 4% growth in 2004, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Releasing its 2004 Travel and Tourism forecasts for 174 countries at the London Stock Exchange last week, the WTTC said the UK travel industry, inbound and outbound, is expected to generate £176.1 billion this year, with demand forecast to rise an average of 3.2% a year until 2014.

Global travel and tourism is expected to generate $490.4 billion in 2004, returning to 2000/01 levels, and to rise 4.5% a year for the next 10 years.

WTTC executive vice-president Richard Miller said there was strong growth in business and leisure tourism and he said the industry had finally shaken off the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“We have lost three years of growth in travel and tourism because of September 11. Confidence in travel has been further lost by two wars, then SARS had a devastating effect on the Far East,” he said.

“Business travel will pick up again this year because economies are improving and staff concerns over travel are waning.”

Employment in the UK travel industry is set to break the one million barrier to 1,056,420 jobs - a 0.9% increase this year. But Miller expressed concern that such levels of job creation would not continue.

“UK job creation is not strong enough in the long term,” he said.

The report predicts a decline in UK travel and tourism jobs of 0.7% to 986,667 over the next 10 years.

The UK is forecast to account for 16.4% of the European Union’s tourism market and 5.9% of the world tourism industry this year. The UK industry contributes £44.6 billion to the economy, accounting for 3.9% of the UK’s gross domestic product.

Meanwhile, the WTTC has put Montenegro at the top of its list of fastest-growing travel and tourism economies, followed by India and China.