HARD times lie ahead for the world’s travel industry according to the ITB World Travel Trends Report. “A best, 2009 will be a year of stagnation,” said the report conducted by the consultants IPK International and commissioned by ITB.
Published in Berlin, the trend analysis forecasts that in the wake of the global financial and economic crisis, the travel industry can expect to contract by one to two per cent in 2009, and that in all likelihood the downturn will continue before things improve. Nor are the signals for 2010 encouraging.
According to the ITB Travel Trends Report, imminent negative developments will impact strongest on North America, Europe and the business travel sector, rather than on holiday travel. According to Dr Martin Buck, director Competence Center Travel & Logistics, Messe Berlin, over the next two years interest in short and medium-range travel destinations will increase. “This is a big opportunity for tourism in Germany,” Buck added.
“Currently bookings are steady and numbers are very high. Once again we see that in an economically difficult situation a global network platform such as ITB Berlin is becoming increasingly important. In these times business partners want to engage in direct, face-to-face dialogue,” he added. The findings of the ITB World Travel Trends Report indicate that the prospects for the travel market recovering vary significantly depending on the region. According to the researchers, the Asian-Pacific region and South America could emerge from the crisis by the end of this year, as these are the regions which depend most on rising demand from the threshold countries India and China.
There are positive signs for Europe as well. According to a Europe-wide poll for the European Travel Monitor in 2008, 48 per cent of respondents said they would definitely take a holiday in 2009, and that it was most likely they would travel more often than in 2008. Responding to the same question, 32 per cent announced they would travel at least as often as in 2008, and only 14 per cent said they would travel less. Six per cent of those polled said that in 2009 they would not travel at all.
ITB Berlin 2009 will take place from March 11 to March 15 2009.
