International Tourism Set to Slow Next Year, Euromonitor Report Shows

Global tourism will probably grow at a slower pace next year as consumers reduce spending because of faltering economies, Euromonitor International research shows.

The volume of tourist arrivals worldwide may rise 4 percent in 2011, compared with a 5 percent increase this year and a 5 percent decline in 2009, according to a presentation prepared for the World Travel Market conference in London today.

Unemployment and government austerity measures will reduce the amount consumers have to spend on holidays. About 10 million fewer Britons will travel this year than in 2008, Caroline Bremner, head of global travel and tourism at Euromonitor, said by telephone. The U.K. is one of the world’s three biggest countries for outbound departures with Germany and the U.S.

Euromonitor predicts the amount spent per arrival will decline by 1 percent next year, after falling less than 1 percent this year and almost 5 percent in 2009.

The value of air travel may rise about 2 percent in 2011, compared with 5 percent growth this year and a decline of more than 15 percent in 2009, Euromonitor research shows.

The hotel industry may report growth of more than 2 percent next year, after two years of declines, the researcher said.

Business travel, which started to recover this year, won’t make up for declining leisure travel, which accounts for the majority of the total spent on travel and tourism, Bremner said.

Companies in the travel and tourism industry are looking to the middle classes in emerging markets for new customers to compensate for fewer passengers travelling in Europe and the U.S., Bremner said. Arrivals in Asia are likely to surpass pre- recession levels next year, Euromonitor says.

To contact the reporter on this story: Armorel Kenna in Milan at akenna@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net

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