REPORT – ITB BERLIN 2012 – BERLIN: “Despite a number of ‘Black Swan’ events in many parts of the world, such as the Arab Spring, the tsunami in Japan, flooding in Thailand and ongoing bank or national debt crises, the recovery in consumer travel demand that began in 2010 also continued in 2011,” Rolf Freitag, founder and President of IPK International, told delegates at the…
REPORT – ITB BERLIN 2012 – BERLIN: “Despite a number of ‘Black Swan’ events in many parts of the world, such as the Arab Spring, the tsunami in Japan, flooding in Thailand and ongoing bank or national debt crises, the recovery in consumer travel demand that began in 2010 also continued in 2011,” Rolf Freitag, founder and President of IPK International, told delegates at the hugely popular, traditional ITB Future Day session on the World Travel Monitor.
The preliminary results of the World Travel Monitor from IPK International show a 5% rise in global outbound travel in 2011 (of a minimum one night sent abroad) to 750 million trips, as against a 7% rise in 2010. This represented a new record high.
The number of overnights rose 4% to 6.2 billion nights, finally matching the previous peak in 2008. At 828 billion euros, spending on international foreign travel in 2011 (corresponding to an 8% increase over the previous year) also edged past its former record high of 2008.
“Tourism defied the continuing crises and difficult situations prevailing in many countries in 2011 to end with record levels in all respects: not only in terms of trip volume but also in overnights and spending,” said Freitag. “The 5% growth over the previous year translates into a new record high in global outbound travel.“
”With regard to the outlook for 2012″, Freitag said: “We’re also cautiously optimistic, although the economic outlook in many markets would in fact seem to indicate signs of a recession. We are therefore anticipating even more distinct shifts in tourism source markets, especially as those in the southern eurozone, crisis-afflicted Countries.”
While Europeans took more trips than in 2010, the World Travel Monitor data for 2011 shows that the total volume did not top the record high reached in 2008. The number of outbound trips rose 3.5% in 2011 to 414 million, following a 2% growth in 2010. The number of overnights held steady at 3.5 billion. Meanwhile, following decreases in 2009 and 2010, expenditure for outbound trips rose 4% for the first time again, to 348 billion euros.
In terms of holiday trips, Europeans showed a preference for beach holidays (+5%). Touring holidays rose by 12% and city breaks by 9%. But countryside-based holidays fell by 4%.
There were mixed performances from Europe’s most important source markets. The UK was the only European market to record no growth at all last year (0%), while Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain increased achieved increases of 1-2%. The best performance in 2011, however, came from Russia, up 13%. Thanks to the strong Swiss franc, the Swiss also recorded an impressive increase in outbound trip volume (+9%).
Although the global economy is facing recession, IPK is expecting a modest 2% growth in global tourism in 2012 (in terms of outbound trip volume), but performance will vary considerably from one region to another. Tourism demand will grow in the emerging markets: by 4% in Asia and 6% in Latin America. The traditional European and North American travel markets will remain in a phase of consolidation with only moderate growth rates: 1% for Europe and even a slight drop (-1%) for North America.
The latest surveys conducted for IPK’s World Travel Monitor indicate that significant changes are brewing in travel and booking behaviour worldwide. As an example, more off-season travel as well as continuing increases in online bookings can be expected. The use of social media and smart-phones will also rise – both to provide information, but also to make bookings.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
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