Most figures have shown that the world economic crisis is grinding to a halt. The future of tourism industry seems more promising now.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) released the news that everybody in the tourism industry has been dying to hear: the world financial crisis is coming to a standstill and figures of profits and losses for most big companies are beginning to resemble those before 2009. Empty hotel rooms are being filled, hotel room rates are going down and airlines are not going bankrupt any more.
The UNWTO has suggested that there has been a global increase of 642 million in arrivals between January and August this year which means that world tourism has shot up by 7%. The Asia-Pacific region has enjoyed an increase of 14%, mostly thanks to two factors: Europe is now considered too expensive even though it is close for other Europeans, and many Asian countries have become more accessible to foreigners due to more lenient bureaucracy and improved infrastructure.
Emerging nations in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe, have revived the European market. They have helped countries such as Germany and Ireland that were suffering due to the lack of tourists. The situation has become better not only because of the improving tourism figures in Western Europe, but also because of a number of Eastern Europeans has decided to visit new destinations. The Middle East has experienced an increase of 16%, mostly thanks to the rebirth of business travel to this area of the world.