WTM Official Press Releases

WTM

16 Jun 2010

UK Outbound Travel Market To Return To Growth In 2012

The UK’s outbound tourism industry will not start growing again until 2012, figures from Euromonitor International released at today’s WTM Vision Conference in London will reveal.

WTM Vision Conference is a mini-conference for senior travel and tourism executives, organised by World Travel Market, the premier global event for the travel industry.

During the economic crisis of 2009, outbound tourism flows from the UK fell by 11.8% compared with the previous 12 months, reveals the Forecast Update – Recovery In Sight? report
Euromonitor International predicts a further fall of 6.2% in the current trading year 2010, with another drop of 1.6% expected in 2011.

Positive growth figures return in 2012, although in volume terms the UK outbound industry will remain far below pre-crisis levels amounting to a loss of 13 million outbound travellers over the course of four years. An improvement of 2% is predicted in 2012 followed by 2.5% the following year. However, growth then slows in 2014 to 1.5% to reach 57 million departures.

The macro-economic trends which drove the double-digit decline in 2009 are still relevant for 2010, Euromonitor International said, with unemployment the major concern for Britons. It added that package holidays, which fell by 7% during 2009, would remain popular because of the value-for-money and protection they provide customers.

While many destinations remain expensive because of sterling’s weakness, domestic tourism within the UK also dropped in 2008/9 although at a slower rate than previously.

Euromonitor International suggests the unpredictable weather is a negative for the domestic sector, although any recurrence of the Icelandic ash cloud in the run-up to the peak season may persuade more people to holiday at home.

“The current crisis with the euro, however, may tempt some cash-strapped holidaymakers to take advantage of the stronger pound once the World Cup is over” said Head of Travel and Tourism Research, Caroline Bremner.

World Travel Market Chairman Fiona Jeffery said: “The UK outbound industry was severely hit by the global crisis, as these figures reveal. UK-based operators need to ensure that their pricing and product mix reflects the current climate. There is also a business opportunity for innovative tourist boards and governments to make their destination attractive to British companies and travellers with incentives and support.”

The UK experience reflects a global trend picked up by the report which predicts a “multi-speed” recovery, with tourism in established economies, such as the UK, recovering more slowly than emerging economies. Over the next two years, India and China’s outbound tourism sector will increase by 8-10%. The leading old world economy is Canada, where departures are tipped to increase by 3-4% over the same period.

-ENDS-

For further information contact WTM PR Manager Paul Nelson on 02089107032/
paul.nelson@reedexpo.co.uk

About World Travel Market
World Travel Market, the premier global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.

Almost 46,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL - London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM.

WTM, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2009, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals.

WTM 2009 will generate £1,139 million of travel industry contracts, revealed independent research by Fusion Communications.

WTM is owned by the world’s leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions (RE), which organises a portfolio of other travel industry events including Arabian Travel Market and International Luxury Travel Market.

RE holds more than 500 events in 38 countries throughout Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific covering 47 industry sectors including aerospace & aviation, healthcare, manufacturing and sport & recreation.

In 2008 RE, part of the Reed Elsevier group, brought together more than six million industry professionals from around the world generating billions of dollars in business.

About Euromonitor International
Euromonitor International is the world's leading provider of global business intelligence and strategic market analysis. We have more than 35 years experience of publishing market reports, business reference books, online databases and bespoke consulting projects. Our research offers insight into industries, countries and consumers.

Euromonitor International is headquartered in London, with regional offices in Chicago, Singapore, Shanghai, Dubai, Cape Town, Santiago and Vilnius, and has a network of over 600 analysts worldwide.

Loading tweets...