No growth in world tourism in 2003

The tourism results for 2003 are very similar to those of 2002…

The tourism results for 2003 are very similar to those of 2002, World Tourism Organization Secretary General Francesco Frangialli said Wednesday.

Frangialli told a press conference that the industry has endured important hardships in 2003 when the war in Iraq, terrorist attacks and epidemics were taken into account.

But the fact that the organization`s General Assembly was held in China in optimum conditions had contributed to the reactivation of Asian tourism which had a very important influence in the world.

Another important market was the United States which had shown signs of economic growth in recent months. It could help tourism recover.

Frangialli added that not every European country depends on the United States as a tourist source to the same degree.

The most dependent ones are Britain, France and Italy. Spain relies on the United States to a lesser extent as it mainly receives tourists from Germany and Britain.

The organization signed an agreement with the Spanish government on Wednesday for mutual promotion of tourism.

Present at the signing ceremony was Spanish Secretary General of Tourism German Porras, who praised the capacity of the sector to resist and overcome any difficulty.

Porras said Spain has seen an increase in tourists from the United States for five consecutive months. Their number arriving in Europe was growing and their most favorite destination was Spain. Enditem

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