People are regaining “the lust for travel” after the combined blows of terrorism, a weak economy and epidemics battered the tourist industry in 2001-2003, with pent-up demand continuing to be released as consumer confidence rises and the fear factor has faded, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (WTO) said today.
The first four months of 2005 showed an average 8 per cent rise, a rate very similar to those seen in the second half of 2004, when international tourist arrivals grew by more than 10 per cent to an all-time record of 763 million, WTO added in a summary of its latest World Tourism Barometer.
“The geopolitical climate, the persistent weak economy and SARS have constrained tourism seriously in previous years and have left a significant amount of pent-up demand in the market,” WTO Chief of Market Intelligence and Promotion Augusto Huéscar said, referring to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), mainly in Asia, in 2003.
More: un.org
Related Travel Information
PoK house opposes travel by Indians, Pakistanis on bus
The Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) Legislative Assembly has unanimously opposed travel by Indians and Pakistanis on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service and said that the bus service should be used by the Kashmiris, as it was meant for them.
The house demanded that visits by Indians and Pakistanis should be made over the international border as travel by them on the bus service could create other complications including the transformation of the ceasefire line into a border, reports the Daily Times.
House officials said that no immigration office should be set up in Pakistan occupied
New Zealand's international tourism showcase Trenz started in Christchurch yesterday with at least some overseas buyers looking for something new from local operators.
Trenz (Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand) has drawn more than 1600 international and domestic industry delegates, and some media.
Some 450 travel and tourism companies are exhibiting their wares.
Among the buyers attending the conference, which has been organised by the Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand, was Swai Hapoo-riwat of Thai company Majestic Travel International.
Mr Hapoo-riwat's firm organises air travel, tours and activities for more than 2000 Thai tourists to New Zealand each year and he
The Pakistan government has lifted a foreign travel ban on the victim of a high profile gang rape, Mukhtar Mai.
But Ms Mai has told the BBC that because her passport has been confiscated, the move is meaningless.
The ban has prevented Ms Mai from taking up an invitation from human rights group Amnesty International to travel to the United States.
Officials had said she had to stay in Pakistan until court cases around the rape were resolved.
But critics said the move was a ploy intended to protect Pakistan's international image.
More: news.bbc.co.uk
TEDA Travel Group Inc. said it has acquired the management rights to two unnamed hotels in China.
TEDA said one property is a five-star, 240-room hotel in the city center of Taiyuan, Shanxi. The management contract is for five and a half years.
The second is a four-star hotel in the city center of Yulin, Chengdu. The company said the property is one of the largest hotels in the city.
Both hotels were signed by TEDA’s majority-owned subsidiary, Landmark International Hotel Group Ltd.
More: hotelinteractive.com
Several big events and related street closures could make navigating downtown Houston streets a challenge.
Consider the agenda:
•The Houston International Festival continues from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. around City Hall.
•The Rockets have their fourth playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks at the Toyota Center on downtown's east side, with tipoff at 4:30 p.m.
•The Astros face the Chicago Cubs at Minute Maid Park at 6:05 p.m.
•Events related to the 50th anniversary of the Houston Grand Opera are scheduled in the Theater District.
Houston police warn that, along with more vehicles crowding city streets, there will be more folks on foot.
More: chron.com
