• by Thalif Deen (united nations)
• Tuesday, June 16, 2009
• Inter Press Service

As it battles to regain its stature, one of the world's most resilient industries - tourism - is expected to overcome the current global economic recession at least by next year.

The Madrid-based U.N. World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has projected that the number of tourists worldwide will increase from the current 900 million to over one billion in 2010 and possibly 1.56 billion by the year 2020.

The resilience is evident particularly in the Asia Pacific region, described as one of the world's fastest growing tourism regions, where regional tourism and the rise of a new middle class are boosting the industry.

'Travel requires two ingredients: time and money,' Lakshman Ratnapala, president emeritus of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), told IPS.

Those who have the time have little money, and those who have the money have little time, he explained.

'A relatively few have both, but the few are growing to be a lot with more countries reaching higher levels of prosperity,' Ratnapala said.

He pointed out that more people in Asia Pacific are escaping poverty and entering the ranks of the middle classes: 'These nouveau riche naturally seek to keep up with the 'Joneses' who go abroad on holidays.'

Thus travel has become an expanding fad, which in time becomes a habit and then grows to be a lifestyle of the middle classes.

Last year's global economic crisis has been biting into the tourism industry, according to officials who attended a three-day international conference on tourism organised by the Seoul Tourism Organisation in South Korea in early June.

Yoon-Dae Euh, chair of Korea's Presidential Council on Nation Branding, says what's needed most to boost tourism's international competitiveness is a complete change of mindset on the part of governments.

The Korean government, he said, has set out the goal of raising the level of tourism, currently ranking as world's 31st to the world's top 20, with targets of 10 million inbound tourists, 13 billion dollars in tourism revenues and one million tourist-related jobs - all to be achieved by 2012.

Recognising tourism as a main driver for national competitiveness, the government has also launched the 2010-2012 'Visit Korea Campaign,' with medical tourism and MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention, Exhibition) as growth engines for the future (aided by tax incentives and deregulation of the industry and fiscal supports).

Ken Low, assistant chief executive of the Singapore Tourism Board, said that by 2010, his country will see key developments in place, including two new integrated resorts and the hosting of the new inaugural Youth Olympic Games, among many other initiatives.

These, he said, 'will entrench Singapore as a compelling and must-visit destination.'

Chong Yoke Har, director of the International Marketing Division of Tourism Malaysia, said her country depends heavily on its brand name.

'We have to be resilient and creative to remain competitive,' she added. 'And we must be able to 'think out-of-the-box' and accept changes if we are to achieve our goals.'

She said the challenges facing Malaysia's tourist trade include negative media reports, adverse travel advisories, misconceptions about Malaysia as a Muslim country linked to terrorism, unprecedented pandemics and global issues such as tsunami, fuel hikes and the economic slowdown.

Ratnapala told IPS the growth of tourism is directly correlated to economic growth, both internationally and regionally.

Tourism within Asia Pacific once depended on the rich countries of the West. That began to change with the economic development of countries within the region which, in turn, resulted in an ever growing middle class with disposable incomes to be invested on travel, he added.

He said the current global economic crisis is also helping to boost intra-Asia Pacific travel as Asian travellers hit by recession and with less disposable income seek short haul travel to cheaper destinations closer to home.

Asked about the role of regional tourism in the Asia Pacific region, Ratnapala said this is particularly the case with countries of North East and South East Asia and Oceania.

North East and South-east Asia are fed mostly by China and Japan. South Asia looks mostly to the West for inbound tourism.

'The bottom line is that Asia Pacific is largely fed by tourists from within the region,' he noted.

During the last 15 years, he said, new middle classes have sprung up everywhere, transforming the global travel scene.

The middle class in modern India is estimated at 300 million, bigger than the entire population of the U.S. And China's middle class is even bigger.

Inter Asia-Pacific travel will continue to boom as countries of the region acquire higher levels of prosperity, he added.

Ratnapala said Japan, China, India, South Korea and Australia are the major source markets in the region. With increasing affluence, citizens of Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam are also venturing out.

China is tipped to be the world's biggest travel market for both inbound and outbound travel by 2020, some say even earlier by 2015. India is close behind.

The forecast is that travel within Asia will continue to grow exponentially, he added.

In the case of Korea, he said, it welcomed close to 391,000 more visitors in the first quarter this year than in the comparative quarter last year.

Significantly, 60.7 percent of this growth came from Japan. China is the next biggest producer for Korea.

The major reason for the surge is the speed with which Korea responded to the opportunity of the depreciating won (the Korean currency) against the appreciating Japanese yen, by kicking off a promotional campaign in Japan with the catchy slogan: 'Visit Korea Now - Double Your Joy At Half The Cost'.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service