Despite a global economic crunch, new research by the World Travel & Tourism Council shows that inbound international tourism will only moderately be impacted and signaled continued growth rates for 2008, albeit at a reduced pace. International tourism arrivals increased in 2007 by nearly 6 percent, totaling nearly 900 million tourists and marking the fourth consecutive year that arrivals' growth exceeded its long-standing trend of 4 percent.
"Tourism growth has been particularly rapid in developing countries with the fastest average growth in tourism arrivals in the Middle East region," said WTTC president Jean-Claude Baumgarten.
Deteriorating economic conditions across the globe are a concern, but the WTTC says the slowdown will have only a limited impact due to the growth of emerging markets it notes, such as Dubai. (DE)