Figures released by the IPK International Consulting Group showed that the number of outbound trips reached record levels in what was a fantastic year for global tourism. With the world looking for good economic news, JPK’s date is certainly a welcome surprise for many.
The firms said that the number of outbound trips last year rose to 711 million, a staggering 7% increase on the year before and sets an all-time record.
And the good news for tourism doesn’t stop there as the consultancy firm predicts further rises in 2011. The emerging tourism markets of Asia and Africa are set to lead the way, with predicted growth measuring 10% and 7% expected in both continents. Latin America is also expected to see strong growth at around 5% on last years’ numbers.
However, growth is predicted to be much slower in North America and Europe’s favorite travel destinations, with predictions expecting a growth of just 1% to 2%.
The news that Asia is fast becoming the world’s favorite place to soak up the sun and surf was backed up by another forecast from the Pacific Asia Travel Association, which predicted that Asia will be the world travel industry’s biggest growth area over the next three years. In total, PATA forecast that around 76 million people will arrive in Asia each year by 2013.
It said that Southeast Asia will be the fastest growing region at 8%, with South Asia and Northeast Asia following closely behind at 7.5% and 7% respectively.
Most of these new arrivals will be the traditional visitors from Europe and North America, but rather from the Middle East, while many visitors from South and Central Asia are expected to visit Northeast Asia.