5 Oct 2009

UN / GLOBAL TOURISM UPDATE

As the world faces one of the worst years in history for international tourism, ministers and representatives from 142 countries met in Astana to encourage people to travel again. Confidence in the sector is now being slightly bolstered by less negative figures. UNWTO

Posted at: October 5, 2009 2:11 pm

Duration: 02:01

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / GLOBAL TOURISM
TRT: 2:01
SOURCE: UNWTO 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 5 OCTOBER 2009, ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN

SHOTLIST:

5 OCTOBER 2009, ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN

1. Wide shot, exterior Palace of Independence
2. Wide shot, flags for WTO General Assembly
3. Wide shot, Kazakh flag at the top of the Palace of Independence in  Astana
4. Wide shot, lobby of Palace of Independence
5. Cutaway, Taleb Rifai, Secretary General ad interim, United Nations World Tourism Organization meeting Arab delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Taleb Rifai, Secretary General ad interim, United Nations World Tourism Organization:
"Our panels of experts have forecasted a slight improvement in the negative trend. We expect to close the year 2009 at minus six to minus four, an average of five percent."  
7. Close-up, delegates at UNWTO General Assembly
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Taleb Rifai, Secretary General ad interim, United Nations World Tourism Organization:
"In May of 2009 global international arrivals stood at minus eight percent, negative eight percent compared to the year 2008. We have gained a point a little more than a point. We are at negative seven percent at the end of July. This is not any news to cheer about but it is definitely significant enough for us to start to sense some kind of flattening to the crisis that we are in."   
9. Close-up, sign of UNWTO General Assembly
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Taleb Rifai, Secretary General ad interim, United Nations World Tourism Organization:
"The factor of the AHIN1 is also being managed in the best possible way. However, we are still concerned about the autumn in the northern part of the hemisphere where the flu seasons is normally more active. And we need to monitor and be vigilant about the effect on our industry."
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Taleb Rifai, Secretary General ad interim, United Nations World Tourism Organization:
"One would want to stress that many uncertainties still remain. And that although the summer in the northern part of this hemisphere has seen some more vibrant activities in many of the countries that were hard hit its still to soon because our industry is so dependent in the overall economic situation." 
12. Wide shot, seated delegates at assembly
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Taleb Rifai, Secretary General ad interim, United Nations World Tourism Organization:
 "For the future we are forecasting that economic situation, if under control as it seems to be, then some slight improvement might be seen and that would even multiply when affecting the tourism industry." 
14. Med shot, delegates registering for the General Assembly

STORYLINE:

As the world faces one of the worst years in history for international tourism, ministers and representatives from 142 countries met in today Astana for the at the 18th General Assembly of the United Nations World Trade Organization to encourage people to travel again.

Confidence in the tourism industry is being slightly bolstered by July's figures for international arrivals, as well as data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Secretary-General ad interim of the United Nations World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) is predicting that tourism will pick up moderately next year after the economic crisis and the effects of the H1N1 flu virus.

Tourism data shows some moderation in the declining results of the first half of this year. In addition, a UNWTO panel of two hundred and fifty experts expressed stronger confidence in the tourism market.

International arrivals declined by four per cent in July this year, a relative improvement when compared to decreases of ten per cent in May and seven per cent in June.

Europe, the globe's largest tourism market, has been suffering the most in terms of international arrivals, while Africa has witnessed a growth in traffic of around four percent, although starting from a small base.

Tourism provides more than seventy five million jobs globally; thirty percent of the world's exports, which is equivalent to one trillion dollars a year and accounts for up to forty five percent of the total exports of services in developing countries.

A sharp reduction in business activity, disposable income and a rise in unemployment, particularly in key source markets have hit tourism hard this year.
 
Global earnings from the sector have been suffering slightly more than arrivals, as consumers trade down, stay closer to home and travel for shorter periods.

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