Global troubles took toll on tourism in 2003, growth to resume in 2004

Madrid, 27 January 2004 - Battered by a series of problems, international tourism arrivals fell 1,2 per cent in 2003, the biggest annual drop ever. However, the outlook for this year is much brighter, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) announced at a news conference on Tuesday.

"In 2003, international tourism lived through another exceptionally difficult year in which three negative factors came together: the Iraq conflict, SARS and a persistently weak economy," explained WTO Secretary-General Mr. Francesco Frangialli. The Iraq conflict and the high level of uncertainty leading up to it depressed worldwide travel in the first quarter of the year. The unexpected outbreak of SARS brought the steady growth of Asia and the Pacific temporarily to an abrupt halt, causing many destinations in the region to welcome less than half of their usual number of arrivals in April and May.

Although conditions improved considerably as the year progressed, with positive figures generally starting to return in the second half, the recovery was not sufficient to result in growth for all destinations. "The travel industry was affected - what branch of the economy would not have been in such circumstances!" affirmed Mr. Frangialli. "But it did not collapse. The decline was limited, and in such a hostile environment this very fact confirms the resilience of tourism, based on the incompressible need for travel and leisure that characterizes consumers in post-industrial societies."

Despite a series of difficult years, from 2001 to 2003, the number of international tourist arrivals had still managed to show an overall increase of seven million, equivalent to a rise of one per cent, over the "millennium" year of 2000, he added.