DUBAI: The Middle East travel and tourism sector is expected to generate business/revenue worth approximately $250 billion in 2008, rising to $456 billion over the next 10 years, according to the latest Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) research released today by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and its strategic partner Accenture. Khaleej Times reported that globally, the travel and tourism sector is expected to generate close to $8 trillion in 2008, rising to approximately $15 trillion over the next 10 years. The TSA results reveal that travel and tourism will contribute to 11.1 percent of the Middle East GDP in 2008, with a growth rate increasing to 7 percent in 2008 from 6.1 percent in 2007. The trend will support 10.3 percent of total employment in the region - approximately 5.7 million jobs. This pace is exceeding the world average, which has slowed to a rate of 3.0 percent in 2008 from 3.9 percent in 2007 as a result of the global economic downturn that is attributed to challenges resulting from the expected US slowdown, the weak dollar, higher fuel costs and concerns about climate change. Looking past the present cyclical downturn in the global economy, the prospects for travel and tourism over the coming decade look bright as emerging economies are expected to continue growing rapidly, boosting international travel while generating an increasingly vibrant domestic travel sector. Long-term forecasts point to a mature but steady phase of growth for world travel and tourism between 2009 and 2018, averaging a growth rate of 4.4 percent per annum, supporting 297 million jobs and 10.5 percent of global GDP by 2018. WTTC President Jean-Claude Baumgarten said: Emerging markets are expected to grow rapidly and remain increasingly active as investors, both in Western economies as well as in regions such as the Middle East. This will, consequently, drive business travel. Similarly, high oil and other commodity prices are supporting rapid economic growth and increased demand for Travel and Tourism in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union, and also enabling massive investment programs in unlocking the potential of Travel and Tourism as an engine for economic development. Among the 11 countries which the regional TSA covers, the United Arab Emirates remains in pole position with a GDP contribution of 22.6 percent and growth rate of 13.5 percent in 2008, followed by Jordan at 19.2 percent and Lebanon at 18.7 percent. Regionally Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East are experiencing higher growth rates than the world average, at 5.9 percent, 5.7 percent and 5.2 percent respectively, while the mature markets, most notably the Americas and Europe, are falling below the world average with a growth at 2.1 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.Bahrain leads as the fastest growing country over the next 10 years in terms of travel and tourism demand with an annual growth rate of 5.9 percent, followed by Qatar at 5.6 percent and Oman at 5.0 percent. Among the 176 countries covered in the TSA research, the United States continues to maintain pole position as the largest Travel and Tourism economy, with its total demand accounting for more than $1.747 trillion this year. With a growth rate at 1.1 percent in 2008, the credit crunch is leading to a marked slowdown in the US economic growth and is likely to restrict the business travel of those working in financial markets.
