World Travel & Tourism News

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Foreign tourism in US sets record in 2005 - Commerce

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - Foreigners spent a record $104.8 billion on travel-related goods and services in the United States in 2005, following several years of reduced tourism in the wake of the September 2001 attacks, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday.

"Today's data show that America remains one of the top destinations for international visitors," Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said in a statement. "Collectively, these visitors are spending record levels during their stay, which helps employ more than 8 million Americans."

Foreign tourism spending surpassed the previous record year of $103.1 billion in 2000 and was 12 percent higher than in 2004. The number of foreigners visiting the United States increased 7 percent last year to 49.4 million, Commerce said.

Foreign spending on travel-related U.S. goods and services tumbled in the months and years after the September 2001 attacks, hitting a low of $80 billion in 2003.

U.S. travelers spent $95.1 billion last year on foreign travel-related goods and services, up 6 percent from 2004.

The United States ran a $9.7 billion trade surplus in the travel category last year, Commerce said.

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The Scotsman
March 8, 2006
Why green is the new tartan for tourism in Scotland

GREEN tourism is the key to the Scottish Executive's plans to expand the industry by 50 per cent over the next decade, it emerged yesterday.

Patricia Ferguson, the tourism minister, declared that by 2015 every tourism business should be vetted and accredited to be environmentally responsible.

She said: "People come to Scotland for the scenery and clean air. We need to make sure those areas are looked after and maintained. By recognising the importance of environmental issues we can look after them.

"We would like every tourism provider to be a part of the Green Tourism Business Scheme [GTBS]."

The scheme ensures that hotels and tourist attractions conserve energy, recycle waste and look after the local environment, in a bid to attract environmentally conscious customers.

A growth of 50 per cent in the industry would provide around 30,000 extra jobs.

Alan Rankin, the chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Forum, said: "The trend in international tourism is that people are being more responsive to businesses that are ethically responsible.

"We need to market the greenness of Scotland's hotels."

The Executive is also pledging to tackle the skills gap in customer services and kitchen positions by attracting people who want more permanent careers.

If successful, the GTBS initiative will make Scotland the most sustainable tourist destination in Europe.

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Tourism Helps Boost European Integration
World Tourism Organization

MADRID, 10 March 2006 - While tourism can play a major role in European integration, countries need a joint tourism policy to face the continuing tests that confront the industry, according to the 300 delegates meeting at an international conference staged by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 1-2 March.

For “Tourism today has to cope with newly emerging large-scale challenges, including terrorism, unpredictable natural disasters or spreading epidemics,” they agreed.

“In order to meet these challenges, as well as increased competition from emerging regions, European countries have to make a concerted effort to formulate a European tourism policy.”

This was one of the main conclusions of a conference, dealing with the “Impact of the European Union Enlargement on tourism development in Europe” following the adhesion of 10 new countries in May 2004, which was attended by four Lithuanian ministers, led by premier, Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas.

With Europe being the largest inbound and outbound regional tourist market, accounting for more than 50% of worldwide tourist arrivals and receipts, “the tourism sector is not only a generator of wealth and a major contributor to European GDP but it is also closely interrelated with other economic and social aspects,” delegates agreed.

As such it can “play a major role in European integration, at a time when the construction of the European Union is faced with demanding challenges.”

The publicity surrounding the expansion had brought an image boost and increased visitor numbers for new member states. Tourist destinations had benefited from better transportation, especially with the growth of low-cost airlines.

Border procedures had become simpler for travellers who also gained from the extension of the EU consumer protection framework, including medical care, and an improved service culture.

But among the disadvantages, delegates noted, were skilled tourism personnel leaving the new member states, and the problems arising for a sector dominated by small and micro-size companies in areas such as price competition, delivery, quality and reliability.

Given the importance of emerging markets like China, India and Russia, it was felt that “cumbersome or expensive requirements to obtain visas to enter the EU” had especially penalized some new members, reducing the number of tourist arrivals.

Rural tourism is a sector that is expected to play an increasingly important role in the newer member countries, while modern forms of social tourism should be “a factor of social cohesion” and help “in the fight against exclusion caused by poverty, cultural differences or physical disabilities,” delegates concluded.

With the EU's cohesion policy for 2007-2013 set to support the development of sustainable tourism, it was agreed that the long-term impact of enlargement is likely to further reinforce intra-regional tourism.

New states will benefit from EU transport policy and network development and a common legal framework in areas such as taxes, quality standards and customer protection. At the same time the increased purchasing power in these countries is expected to boost the number of their outbound travellers to other European destinations.

For further information please visit our web and see all presentations and conclusions of the meeting at:

http://www.world-tourism.org/regional/europe/menu.htm

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Space tourism companies reaching for the stars

BERLIN, March 12, 2006 (AFP) - Will our grandchildren spend their vacations on the moon, or their honeymoons in a hotel orbiting Mars? A few dreamers at the International Tourism Fair say space tours for average travelers could come sooner than we think.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are rumored to have booked tickets on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic Spaceship which is due for lift-off in 2010. But experts at the ITB in Berlin said space travel may also one day be within reach for mere mortals.

"If you have 20 million dollars lying around, there is a spot available in April next year," Dieter Isakeit of the manned flight division of the European Space Agency said, noting the still astronomical cost for amateur astronauts.

US millionaire Dennis Tito laid down that amount in 2001 to become the first galactic tourist, spending a week on the International Space Station (ISS).

But few are able to pay such princely sums to realize their dream -- a Japanese man became only the fourth holidaymaker in space last September.

But more modest -- and radically cheaper -- trips could become available in the foreseeable future.

Professor Robert Goehlich of Keio University in Yokohama, Japan said that short suborbital flights, which would make it possible to experience a few weightless minutes, could be a reality within 15 years.

Flights that take passengers into spatial orbit for a few hours could be a niche market in 25 years, he added.

However the next step, a true holiday in space, is a more distant fantasy, not only for financial reasons.

A model space hotel on display in Berlin shows that comfort when travelers are afloat in the Milky Way will be hard to find.

The module, designed for use on the ISS, is comprised of four tiny cabins with berths for couples, a common room and a very basic bathroom.

Its developer, Dirk Schumann, said the package could be had at a price of two million dollars per person per week.

The other concern is safety.

"The Achilles' heel of the shuttles today is that they do not allow the crew to be ejected in case of major damage," German astronaut Ulf Merbold said.

"The space station is not like a plane in which the cockpit is separate from the passengers' cabin. It is as if people in a hospital could walk in and out of the operating room during a heart operation," Isakeit added.

And it will also take some time before Mars and Saturn start appearing as destinations in tour catalogues. The length of the journey is so prohibitive that it would take new propulsion technology to make manned travel to the major planets even a remote possibility.

But for those too impatient to wait, there are options.

The travel group European Space Tourist is offering four-day trips to the Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City east of Moscow with zero-gravity simulation flights. The experience can be yours for just 5,000 euros (6,000 dollars).

"The demand is growing all the time," proprietor Thomas Kraus said, saying that companies seeking a unique gift were particularly intrigued.

Certain inconveniences associated with space, however, will probably never improve.

European Space Tourist sells food developed by NASA on the Internet including packets of dried fruits.

The rest, "sounds good on the menu but on the plate it has a gelatinous consistency that is much less appetizing," Goehlich said.

"This artificial colony on the space station is incredibly lacking compared to the quality of life on earth," Merbold said.

"There are much more comfortable places than a shuttle to spend a honeymoon" or hold a wedding. "You cannot kiss the bride with a space-suit helmet on."

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Tourism a tough sell in Afghanistan, East Timor and Rwanda

BERLIN, March 12, 2006 (AFP) - Afghanistan, Rwanda or East Timor may not top most holiday destination lists, but the war-scarred countries are now trying to appeal to adventure tourists keen to spy gorillas in the wild, or take a tour led by a former guerrilla.

Marketing executives at the International Tourism Fair (ITB) in Berlin admitted they faced a challenge selling former conflict zones as vacation spots but said even marginal success could mark a new beginning for the countries.

"The past is the past and the future is now" reads the slogan on a glossy travel brochure about Rwanda, displayed at a colorful stand staffed by men in flowing African robes.

Although Rwanda is synonymous for most Europeans with the 1994 massacre in which 800,000 people were killed in the span of 100 days, the country sees tourism, primarily driven by gorilla photo safaris, as a path toward economic redevelopment.

Meanwhile East Timor, which has a bloody legacy of Indonesian occupation in which more than 100,000 Timorese are believed to have died, is also undergoing a campaign to revamp its image.

It takes pride in being "the newest country in the world" since voting for independence in 1999 and guerrillas who once fought Indonesian forces are now offering treks into the country's verdant interior complete with vivid combat stories, said Eduardo Massa, director of the country's only tour company, Timor Megatours.

Massa is a tireless salesman of the country's charms: its coastline "where you are all alone, the beach is all yours", its organic coffee plantations and especially its rich underwater life, perfect for divers.

About 1,000 tourists per month come looking for a bit of paradise off the beaten track, with Australians, Japanese and French travelers leading the pack.

According to Massa, they are not put off by the lack of infrastructure and the "very basic" accommodations.

Afghanistan, however, may be an even tougher sell, plagued as it is by ongoing strife.

Ulf Amann, a German consultant working on a concept to develop tourism in the central Asian nation, acknowledges "there are very unique conditions" in a country ravaged by 20 years of war, the brutality of the extremist Taliban regime and continued bombing attacks.

Amann said there is a select target audience ready to consider a trip to Afghanistan, comprised largely of educated people over 40 who have higher than average incomes but are ready to sacrifice a bit of comfort to discover a fascinating country.

"Yes, I'm who he is talking about," interjected Dieter Krause, a German software engineer visiting the ITB stand.

Krause said he had visited the country in the 1970s and had fond memories of traveling by camel through ruggedly dramatic landscapes and staying with hospitable locals.

Amann admits it will take some time before Afghanistan revives the tourism heyday it enjoyed three decades ago.

Many of its cultural treasures have been obliterated, including the ancient Buddha statues of Bamiyan northwest of Kabul which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, although there are a few restoration initiatives.

A tentative start in organizing tours with foreign travelers has involved two-day excursions from Uzbekistan and in 2005, some 2,200 tourists went to Afghanistan.

Amann said as soon as an adventurous vanguard paved the way, others would follow.

Although it will probably take decades before broad-based tours take hold, he said the plan now was to develop two or three safe and attractive destinations in cooperation with clan chiefs who can help guarantee security.

Tourism could then become a viable source of income for part of a new generation of Afghans.

"For the moment, there are few real sources of income other than from drugs," he said, referring to the booming poppy industry used to produce heroin.

"There is investment in education but it is the next generation that will benefit from that."

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Multi-country tours promoted as Central America tourism surges
By KATHIA MARTINEZ
15 March 2006

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) - Ten or 20 years ago, mentions of countries like Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala conjured up visions of soldiers and civil war.

But today Central America has become a tourism hot spot. The isthmus between Mexico and Colombia is better known for its culture and wildlife than its wartorn past. And tourism revenue has surpassed that of most local industries.

Now regional officials are trying to encourage visitors to experience the region the way Americans have long traveled in Europe -- by taking in several countries in one trip.

Some 20 companies in Europe, mostly Italy, Spain and Britain, already promote tours of Central America that include visits to multiple countries in the region. And Air Costa Rica and Air Panama are trying to capitalize on the trend by opening two new routes between the Costa Rican capital of San Jose and two popular destinations in Panama.

Promoting regional tourism is seen as a way of improving other aspects of life in Central America, from the economy to law enforcement to health and education.

"Tourism is the passport to peace," said Sara Sanchez, Panama's tourism minister.

The number of visitors coming to Central America has spiked notably in the past two years. In 2004, some 5.7 million people visited the region and spent more than US$4 billion (euro3.35 billion), up 14 percent from 2003.

Preliminary data indicates that some 6.5 million tourists -- mostly from the United States, Mexico and Canada -- visited Central America last year.

Nicaraguan Tourism Minister Maria Rivas said the Sept. 11 attacks contributed to the growth.

"They are coming to destinations that are closer and safer," she said.

Marcos Gandasegui, whose Ancon Expedition travel agency specializes in nature tours, described the spike after Sept. 11 as an "explosion." He said the appearance of SARS in Asia also encouraged many to turn to Central America for their vacation plans.

Regional officials say they have been working for years to build up the so-called "industry without smokestacks" by encouraging investment, culture and the development of a regional market.

"It's not something that grew up unplanned," said Coralia Dreyfus, a tourism official with the Central American Integration System. "It has been something that the seven countries of the region have been working on."

Still, Gandasegui said the growing industry has forced countries to focus on tourism and related projects, like strengthening infrastructure, health and education in their countries.

One thing the region doesn't need to develop is its natural resources: pristine beaches, coral reefs, some 900,000 different species of plants and animals, and rich and varied cultures fed by the countries' native Indian heritage, European colonialism and coastal settlements.

For El Salvador and Guatemala, two countries that survived years of civil conflict, tourism has become the countries' second-largest source of income, after money sent home by migrants living in the United States.

Last year, 13 years after peace accords ended that country's civil war, 1.1 million people visited El Salvador and spent US$644 million (euro539 million). In Guatemala, where the civil war ended in 1996, 1.3 million tourists visited, spending US$868 million (euro726 million).

Panama has also worked to build up its tourism industry, converting many of the former U.S. installations turned over with the canal handover in 1999 into restaurants, resorts and even an upscale cruise ship-docking station. The country has been so successful that tourism revenues have risen to US$860 million (euro720 million), surpassed only by revenues from the Panama Canal.

Nicaragua and Honduras have the smallest number of tourists, with 700,000 and 800,000 annual visitors respectively. But both countries rely heavily on tourism dollars, with Nicaragua seeing US$190 million (euro159 million) from visitors and Honduras with US$500 million (euro418 million) annually. Nicaragua has also just lately begun promoting its tourism industry, and has received lavish coverage in many top travel publications aimed at affluent Americans.

Costa Rica is the region's granddaddy in the industry, especially eco-tourism. Last year, 1.6 million people spent US$1.5 billion (euro1.26 billion) hiking its cloud forests, touring its volcanos, sunning on its beaches and observing its famous wildlife.

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Associated Press reporters Marcos Aleman in El Salvador; Freddy Cuevas in Honduras; Marianela Jimenez and Tatiana Lopez in Costa Rica and Juan Zamorano in Panama contributed to this report.

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If You Go ...

COUNTRIES IN THE REGION: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

MAJOR AIRLINES FLYING TO CENTRAL AMERICA: Delta, Iberia, Taca, United Airlines, US Airways, Mexicana, American Airlines, Martin Air, Continental Airlines, Cubana de Aviacion, Avianca, Sol Air.

REGIONAL TOURISM WEB SITES:

http://www.enjoycentralamerica.com

http://www.visitcentroamerica.com

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Indian Kashmir weeds out pollution to clean-up tourism jewel

SRINAGAR, India, March 24, 2006 (AFP) - Indian Kashmir is stepping up efforts to save its watery jewel ringed by Himalayan peaks, Dal Lake, from pollution that threatens to turn it into a weed-clogged swamp just as tourists return to the revolt-hit region.

Cleaning up the lake, state officials say, is vital to tourism as visitors slowly venture back to Kashmir amid peace moves by India and Pakistan to end their half-century dispute over the territory that both claim.

The region's High Court this month asked the Lakes and Waterways Authority, which tends water bodies in Kashmir, to demolish hotels, houses and restaurants around the lake which have been declared as "illegal and hazardous".

"We will take every step needed to protect the lake," says Tariq Hamid, the state's forest minister.

The lake -- famed for its brightly hued, ornately carved cedar houseboats bearing names like "New Australia" and "Telaviv" -- has already shrunk by more than half to 11 square kilometres (4.2 square miles) in the past two decades and is becoming choked by weeds. Its depth has decreased by 12 meters (40 feet) in the same period.

"These hotels on the shores must go. They are the biggest polluters of the lake," says Manzoor Ahmed, a Srinagar resident.

The pollution is sometimes so bad it turns the normally blue coloured lake into a brackish green as effluent from hotels and houses on the shores is flushed into the lake water.

Ironically it is also the lake's 1,400 houseboats -- which during colonial times housed the British who were forbidden by Kashmir's princely ruler to own land -- that are among the chief offenders in discharging waste into the water.

The government is setting up six sewage treatment areas along the lake that are expected to control pollution to a large extent.

At one time, the region was known as "paradise on earth" for its many lakes and mountains that drew tens of thousands of visitors a year. But in 1989 a revolt against Indian rule erupted and the tourist flow slowed to a trickle as the insurgency has claimed more than 44,000 lives.

But since India and Pakistan began a peace process two years ago, tourists have started returning with more than 600,000 in 2005, almost double the previous year and the highest since the insurgency began.

The state government and tourist operators expect those numbers to grow if the peace process remains on track.

However, Islamic militants routinely detonate car bombs and attack Indian security posts throughout Kashmir and in Srinagar resulting in an average of three to four people killed daily.

But violence has declined compared to two years ago when eight to ten people were killed daily and the area around Dal Lake has remained relatively peaceful.

Besides the violence, there are other obstacles to overcome to save the lake fed by springs and two higher altitude water bodies. For instance, during the rainy months in summer, silt from the mountains stripped of trees by heavy logging seeps into the lake.

But the government is taking action.

"We're also acquiring sophisticated multi-purpose dredgers to clear the lake of mud and silt," says forest minister Hamid.

On court orders, forest department officials have felled some 80,000 trees growing in the lake and must cut 500,000 more, says senior government forest officer Zahoor Jan.

The trees shed leaves into the water which decompose and pollute the lake.

Cutting down the trees in the water "will definitely help in cleaning the lake", says scientist Shafiq-ur-Rehman, a professor at Sheri Kashmir agriculture and research university.

In addition to the houseboats where some 7,500 people live, another 50,000 people live on little islands within the lake area.

"The lake's environmental deterioration can be attributed rightly to human settlements within and near the lake," Rehman says.

Brightly coloured floating vegetable gardens have also become big sources of contamination. Dal Lake's floating gardens on rafts made of reeds make it one of the Indian Kashmir's biggest vegetable producing areas.

"Pesticides used by farmers find their way into the lake, causing colossal damage to its fauna and flora," observes Rehman.

Shafat Hussain of the local chapter of environmental group Greenpeace says the court's intervention is making things happen fast.

"For the first time it seems authorities are really serious in cleaning the lake," Hussain adds.

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Rural Tibetans taste sugarplum of tourism
27 March 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

LHASA, March 27 (CEIS) -- More and more rural Tibetans, who traditionally live on farming and husbandry, have found a new way to shake off poverty - catering for the tourists swarming into the autonomous region.

More than 30,000 Tibetan farmers took part in catering services in 2005 with each earning an average of 2,000 yuan (250 U. S. dollars) more than previous year, according to a press release from the regional tourism bureau on March 24.

The Bureau said about 300 rural Tibetan families are leading a better life than ordinary Tibetans thanks to the lucrative tourism in Tibet, where the average annual income per person was around 2,000 yuan in 2005.

In Tibet's vast rural areas, traditional industries are considerably hindered by a low level of productivity and vulnerability to environmental pollution, said Tibet's Vice-Chairman Losang Jamcun.

Tourism should be a significant part of the rural economy and a fast way to increase the income of rural citizens, said the vice chairman.

With Tibet's booming tourism industry, more tourists will branch out to the vast farms and pastures, enabling more rural Tibetans to moonlight as caterers, said Bagzho, director of the tourism bureau.

Bagzho said with his bureau's support, nearly 20,000 rural Tibetans had offered services to tourists in the past four years.

In 2006, the director said, the bureau will continue with such support and pledges to incorporate 100 to 200 new rural households into the industry.

The local tourism is bound to mushroom after the Qinghai-Tibet railway begins test runs in July, which will bring more benefits to those rural caterers, he said.

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Africa and Asia prepare for influx of eclipse tourists

NIAMEY, March 27, 2006 (AFP) - From west Africa to central Asia, a handful of countries are gearing up for an unprecedented wave of stargazing visitors as thousands of amateur and professional astronomers head for the world's best spots to view Wednesday's solar eclipse.

An area spanning 14,500 kilometres (9,000 miles), from Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger and Libya, to Greece, Turkey, Georgia, southern Russia and Kazakhstan, will see the moon completely cover the sun for several minutes on March 29.

Some countries have gone to great lengths to attract tourists and scientists, with special installations and over-the-top claims for viewing conditions.

The Libyan authorities have pulled out all the stops, granting astronomers normally hard-to-come-by tourist visas and giving them special permission to bring their equipment into the country.

The north African nation is to dedicate its air and sea ports to the arrival of eclipse lovers from 47 countries, including Americans, Britons and French but excluding Israelis, tourism official Shaban al-Taeb told AFP.

Tent villages with a capacity for 7,000 people, described as "luxuriously equipped", have been put up in the desert to accommodate the tourists.

The authorities claim the country offers the best conditions for observing the eclipse, which will be visible for seven minutes in Libya.

The total eclipse will be visible from some of Turkey's biggest tourist areas, including the Mediterranean coast and Cappadocia.

Authorities there claim their country offers the best likelihood of clear skies and optimal weather conditions for the eclipse. "Unlike in Libya, there is no risk of sandstorms," said Attila Ozguc, head of astronomy at Istanbul's Kadillia research centre.

Many hotels in the region are already fully booked for March 29, with most of the bookings coming from American and Japanese eclipse-chasers.

The Greek island of Kastellorizo in the southeastern Aegean Sea, the only place in Europe where the total eclipse can be seen, is expected to be overrun with visitors.

Around 1,000 visitors are expected to descend on the tiny island and local authorities have increased ferry boat services from the neighbouring island of Rhodes, the sole point of contact between Kastellorizo and the Greek mainland.

A total eclipse of the sun has in many cultures traditionally been seen as a harbinger of disaster.

One of Niger's seniormost Muslim figures has called on Muslims to organise group prayers, warning that eclipses are traditionally "a call to order".

But if its supernatural effects are as yet unproved, one thing that is certainly harmful about a solar eclipse is its effect on eyes -- even where the eclipse is only partial.

In Togo, where the last total eclipse was in 1947, people have rushed to take up a government offer of protective glasses.

Wednesday morning has been declared a national holiday in Togo, where more than 700,000 pairs of protective glasses had already been sold by March 18, according to Population Minister Kanny Sokpoh-Diallo.

In Niger and Ghana, special committees have been set up to inform the public of the dangers of viewing the eclipse through the naked eye.

In 1,433 Ghanaian towns and villages sirens will go off for the two to three minutes of the total eclipse to warn people without protective glasses to keep their eyes closed.

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Mexico Proves a Role Model for Rapid Recovery
World Tourism Organization

MEXICO CITY/CANCUN, MEXICO, 28 March 2006 - The rapid recovery programme carried out in Mexico´s leading Caribbean resorts after the devastation caused by Hurricane Wilma last year should be used as a blueprint for other tourism regions facing similar catastrophes says World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli.

Following a visit to some of the worst-affected areas around Cancun, Mr Frangialli said: “Getting these resorts back into action so quickly after such a destructive hurricane is a credit to the combined efforts of both public and private sectors in Mexico.

“With climate change increasingly threatening the livelihood of the tourism industry, the speed and efficiency shown in the recuperation of these resorts is worthy of being a role model to be followed by other destinations around the world.”

During a fact-finding tour to Mexico in which he promised UNWTO’s continuing support in assisting in the recovery efforts, Mr Frangialli said that despite Wilma’s lashing of the Caribbean coast in October the number of foreign tourists to Mexico had managed to rise to almost 22 million and their spending to 12 billion US dollars.

The vigour shown in restoring the damage to the country’s leading resort area was recognized barely a month after the hurricane struck in a resolution approved at the UNWTO General Assembly in Senegal, a copy of which he presented to Mexican President Vicente Fox.

As a result Mexico had joined a special group created at the assembly and chaired by France to draw up a joint plan to prepare for and offer management guidelines for future crises that may affect the industry. Among these was the threat of a global avian flu pandemic, Mr Frangialli told the president.

On his visit to Cancun, during which he was accompanied by the Mexican Under-Secretary for Tourism Francisco Madrid and UNWTO’s Regional Representative for the Americas Carlos Gutierrez, Mr Frangialli held talks with the Governor of Quintana Roo state and officials from the city as well as nearby hurricane-affected communities on the Riviera Maya, Cozumel and the Islas Mujeres islands.

He also met with representatives of the media and the private tourism sector on a tour that included several of the restored beach areas.

“It was clear to see the impressive progress that has already been made, demonstrating that Cancun and Mexico’s other Caribbean destinations have made a speedy recovery in restoring the levels of quality and services that have made this one of the world’s leading tourist destinations,” he said.

Latest tourism figures for the region show an average 83 per cent occupation of the 53,000 hotel beds. While refurbishment continues at Cancun airport, terminal 1 is completely operative for scheduled and charter flights and all main roads in the area have been reopened to traffic.

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Source: World Tourism Organization; International Monetary Fund

Tourism demand depends above all strongly on the economic conditions in major generating markets. When economies grow, levels of disposable income will usually also rise. A relatively large part of discretionary income will typically be spent on tourism, in particular in the case of emerging economies. A tightening of the economic situation on the other hand, will often result in a decrease or trading down of tourism spending.

In general, the growth of international tourism arrivals significantly outpaces growth of economic output as measured in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In years when world economic growth exceeds 4 per cent, the growth of tourism volume tends to be higher. When GDP growth falls below 2 per cent, tourism growth tends to be even lower. In and GDP at 3.5 per cent, i.e. tourism grew on average 1.3 times faster than GDP. the period 1975-2000 tourism increased at an average rate of 4.6 per cent a year.

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Tourism Earnings Drop by Half in Zimbabwe
Thursday March 30, 6:54 am ET

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Tourism earnings in Zimbabwe dropped by half last year, the state tourism authority said Thursday, exacerbating an acute hard currency shortage as the country suffers through its worst economic crisis since independence.

The authority's annual report blamed the tourism slump on soaring domestic inflation, currently the world's highest at 783 percent, gasoline shortages and "negative publicity" abroad about Zimbabwe's problems.

Tourism, which was the third largest hard currency earner after tobacco exports and mining, brought in just US$98 million (euro81 million) in 2005, compared to US$198 million (euro165 million) in 2004. Foreign visitors accounted for 13 percent of tourism revenues last year, the report said. The balance was made up by local tourists who could no longer afford to travel abroad.

The report also noted, however, that tourism in Africa as a whole declined by 11 percent last year, with foreign arrivals down 39 percent.

The Harare Sheraton Hotel lowered its brand flag and logo on Wednesday and handed over control of its luxury towers, a landmark on the capital city's western skyline, to the state-controlled Rainbow Tourism group.

A 20-year management contract with Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, owners of the Sheraton Hotel brand, expired Dec. 31 and was not renewed by "mutual agreement," Starwood said.

Zimbabwe's agriculture-based economy went into free fall after an increasingly authoritarian President Robert Mugabe in 2000 ordered the often violent seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms.

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Brazilian police detain tourists in operation to curb 'sex tourism'
By TALES AZZONI
1 April 2006

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Cracking down on visitors who come to Brazil for sex, police raided clubs known for using call girls and strippers, detaining 118 foreigners early Saturday to discourage what authorities called "sexual tourism."

The tourists -- mostly from Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and Norway -- were briefly held in the northeastern city of Natal for not carrying passports or international identification cards that Brazil requires of all foreigners, police said. They were fined $76 and released.

Luiz Pereira, a federal police officer, said the country hoped the operation "will help discourage tourists who think sexual tourism is easy in Brazil."

"We are showing that police are paying attention to this problem," he said.

More than 70 federal agents raided two nightclubs known for using strippers and call girls to attract tourists, Pereira said. Police detained 118 tourists in the raids in Natal, 1,520 miles northeast of Sao Paulo, he said.

Prostitution is legal in Brazil, but people who promote sex tourism can be charged.

Some of the detained had expired visas and were ordered to leave the country within eight days, police said.

Police have conducted similar operations in recent months in Natal. In one raid, six Italian men were arrested on charges of owning prostitution houses aimed at tourists.

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INTERVIEW-Maldives GDP shrinks for first time in 2005
By Simon Gardner

COLOMBO, April 5 (Reuters) - The Maldives' economy shrank by 3.4 percent in 2005 -- the first contraction since records began in the mid-1970s -- after Asia's tsunami pounded the tourist industry, the island chain's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

However, Ahmed Shaheed forecast that gross domestic product (GDP) -- which had expanded by 6.0 percent in 2004 to $650 million -- would rebound with a sharp 10-11 percent expansion this year as tourists returned to the country's luxury resorts.

"We had a contraction of 3.4 percent (in 2005)," Shaheed told Reuters in a telephone interview from the island cluster's capital of Male. "The tourism figures speak for themselves. We were down some 40 percent from the previous year. That accounts by and large for the contraction."

"We were lucky to have tourism rebound towards the end of the year. Without that it would have been far worse," he said.

Tourist arrivals fell to around 385,000 in 2005 from around 600,000 the previous year -- double the 300,000-strong mostly Sunni Muslim population.

The pick-up at the end of 2005 has carried over into this year -- Shaheed said the islands' 87 resorts enjoyed average occupancy rates of 95-97 percent in the first quarter of 2006.

For two decades up until 2004, the Maldives posted average annual growth of around 8.0 percent thanks to tourism. Visitors pay hundreds of dollars a night to stay on tiny lagoon-encircled coral islands that offer some of the world's best scuba diving.

Luxury tourism is the axis of the economy.

Spread over 1,200 tiny, mostly uninhabited islands dotted 500 miles (800 km) off the toe of India, the country has little in the way of industry or agricultural production aside from fishing and the islands rely heavily on imports.

RECONSTRUCTION

Shaheed said reconstruction of homes and infrastructure damaged by the 2004 tsunami would help boost growth in 2006, but he said reconstruction aid pledged in the wake of the disaster was $150 million short.

"We forecast growth of 10-11 percent this year. Firstly we're coming off a low base, and secondly a lot of reconstruction and repair activities happening after the tsunami will all continue to heighten economic activity," Shaheed said.

"But we have a reconstruction funding shortfall. Petroleum prices having spiked and stayed quite high for the past eight months have increased the costs of everything, therefore the amount of money required has increased," he added.

He said the government planned to lease another 35 islands to leisure companies to raise extra revenue to plug a shortfall in a record high government budget of $470 million for 2006. Eleven more hotels are already under construction.

Some resorts charge upwards of $1,000 a night for glass-floored rooms in small wooden pavilions built on stilts over azure lagoons.

The government leases the islands on 35-year contracts to major hotel chains like Four Seasons, Banyan Tree and Club Med as well as a host of smaller hotel companies.

However, the lucrative industry is also a bone of contention in local politics.

Critics of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in power since 1978, accuse him of dragging his feet in implementing pledged democratic reforms because trusted aides run several of the resorts in a country where half the population lives in poverty on a dollar a day.

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Visitor arrivals in India rise 11 pct in March

NEW DELHI, April 7 (Reuters) - The number of visitors to India rose by more than 11 percent in March, the government said said on Friday, as a booming economy lured droves of business and leisure travelers.

Arrivals in the past month stood at 407,446, compared with 367,068 in March last year, with foreign exchange earnings climbing 8.2 percent to $547.17 million, it said in a statement.

Home to the Taj Mahal, India is running a publicity campaign across world capitals to boost its image as an international travel destination offering jungle safaris, golden sand beaches, heritage maharaja palaces, Buddhist sites and backwater cruises among others.

In 2005, India attracted just 3.91 million visitors, just a fraction of the total world travelers, government figures showed earlier this month.

The government has said it is focusing on the growth of hotels, particularly budget hotels to attract more visitors into Asia's third-largest economy.

Tourism was the third largest net earner of foreign exchange for India with $5.73 billion in 2005, up 20.2 percent over 2004.

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Foreign visitors to Japan hit record high in 2005
10 April 2006

TOKYO, April 10, 2006 (AFP) - The number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2005 rose 9.6 percent from the previous year to a record 6.73 million thanks to the World Exposition, an industry body said on Monday.

Some 4.37 million foreigners came to Japan specifically for tourism, up 13.8 percent from the previous year, the Japan National Tourist Organization said in a statement.

The gains were mainly due to extra foreign visitors who came for the World Exposition in central Aichi prefecture, the government-backed organization said.

The six-month international showcase of technology which ended in September drew a bigger-than-expected crowd of 22 million visitors from Japan and other countries.

Japan boosted the numbers by lifting visa requirements for South Koreans and Taiwanese, the tourist organization said.

South Koreans topped the foreign visitors' list with 1.7 million, up 10.0 percent, followed by Taiwanese at 1.3 million. US visitors were third at 822,000.

The body also said the number of Japanese who traveled abroad rose 3.4 percent to 17.4 million in 2005, the second highest figure. The record was in 2000, before the global slump in travel following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Japan has launched a drive aimed at drawing 10 million foreign tourists in 2010 compared with 5.73 million in 2003.

The government has aired television commercials abroad, waived visa requirements and expanded amenities for tourists in a bid to draw foreigners who may be put off by Japan's high prices and language barrier.

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French court fines tourism office for racial discrimination
14 April 2006

MONTPELLIER, France (AP) - A court fined a tourism office in southern France on Friday for complicity in racial discrimination in vacation rentals, in what an anti-racism group hailed as the first such ruling against a government agency.

Three whistle-blowers from inside the office in Cap d'Agde, on France's Mediterranean coast, brought the case to light in September 2003, saying that about 10 real estate agents had persuaded the office to pull North African-sounding names from its reservation database for the region's popular resorts.

A criminal court in nearby Beziers fined the office euro20,000 (US$24,000), parties to the case said. Reservations director Viviane Praz was convicted and given a 15-day suspended jail sentence.

"It's the first time that we've gotten such a penalty for racial discrimination. Until now, fines never topped euro10,000 (US$12,000)," said Samuel Thomas, vice president of advocacy group SOS Racisme, which had been alerted to the discrimination by the whistleblowers.

"It's also the first time that a public institution has been convicted of racial discrimination," he said, despite repeated lawsuits filed against unemployment offices and public housing providers.

The verdict comes as France is strengthening its legal arsenal in the fight against racial discrimination -- often cited by immigrants and their children in troubled suburbs where rioting erupted last year.

France enacted an equal opportunities law this month supporting the use of anonymous resumes to help job seekers avoid discrimination based on foreign-sounding names or addresses in neighborhoods in which many immigrants live. It also permits undercover checks of nightclubs, employment agencies and other establishments for possible discrimination.

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Jerusalem enjoys busiest Easter for years

JERUSALEM, April 16, 2006 (AFP) - Thousands of Christians from around the world attended church services in Jerusalem on Easter Sunday, in the busiest Easter weekend since the start of the Palestinian uprising five years ago.

Many pilgrims retraced the final steps of Jesus Christ on the Via Dolorosa through the narrow streets of the walled Old City to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, said to be the site of his burial.

Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, the Vatican's chief representative in the Holy Land, presided over the traditional Easter Day service in the Holy Sepulchre where he prayed for peace among people of all faiths.

"For all the inhabitants of this land -- Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Druze -- we ask God that the grace of the Resurrection may become a blessing and a source of peace, of protection against all oppression, and of courage to face all the challenges of our difficult life here in this Holy Land," said Sabbah during a mass attended by several thousand worshippers.

"To the Jewish people who are celebrating Passover, we pray that this feast will be for you and for everyone in this land a source of peace, justice, and reconciliation."

As Sabbah presided over the mass for Catholic worshippers, followers of the Greek Orthodox church also converged on the Holy Sepulchre as part of their celebrations for Palm Sunday.

Among the pilgrims who were also marking Palm Sunday were around 2,000 Egyptian Copts who had been allowed to travel to Israel for the first time since the eruption of the uprising in September 2000.

The Orthodox church marks Easter Sunday a week on from the Catholic faith.

Members of the Anglican Church celebrated the dawn of Easter Day with a ceremony at the Garden Tomb just outside the Old City, which is believed by some to be the site where Jesus was laid after his crucifixion and then ascended into heaven.

The Easter week coincides with the Jewish Passover festival, making it one of the busiest times on the tourist calendar for many years.

A spokesman for the Israeli tourism ministry said around 90,000 foreign visitors had arrived in the country in the last week.

"It's a 20 percent rise on the numbers from last year and more than we have had in the last five years," she said.

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Tourists find strife-torn Nepal is not so tranquil
By Raju Gopalakrishnan

KATHMANDU, April 18 (Reuters) - Coming to Nepal for a trek under the shadows of snow-capped Himalayan peaks or to visit ancient temples might not be as tranquil an experience as it may seem, tourists to the kingdom found this week.

For years, mounting political strife in the country has been consciously kept well clear of foreign visitors because it had nothing to do with them and, more importantly, no one wanted to disrupt the inflow of tourist dollars to the impoverished nation.

Maoist rebels who have been fighting to overthrow the monarchy for a decade, a campaign that has killed 13,000 people, have made it clear that they will not target tourists. No tourist has been killed.

And a pro-democracy movement to remove King Gyanendra from absolute power has raged for months with many tourists scarcely aware.

But on two days this week, there has been tear gas, burning tyres and cane charges in the Thamel tourist quarter of the capital Kathmandu as activists gathered to protest against the royalist government.

Curio shops, bars and restaurants have been shut for large parts of the day, but they have been quick to reopen once the trouble passed.

One foreign woman received minor injuries. But on Monday evening, groups of tourists could be seen huddled in alleys outside backpacker hotels, wondering what to do next.

Travel has been curtailed because of a continuing strike launched on April 6 and food supplies in shops are running short.

"It's terrible, we can't go trekking, we are stuck here," said Lino Ben Ari, an Israeli woman from the town of Betach Tikva, who was sitting outside a shuttered shop with others. "I am missing out on something.

"We will take a decision on whether to leave in a couple of days, but if all had been well, we would have stayed for a month," she said.

This is bad news for Nepal, which relies on tourism, aid and remittances from citizens overseas for foreign exchange.

Tourist arrivals have fallen from a peak of about half a million in 1999 to 297,000 in 2003 and 277,000 last year. Many fear this year could be worse.

"Business people are suffering with cancellations and the fall in the number of tourists," said Man Mohan Singh Chhetri, deputy general manager of Asian Trekking, an agency in Thamel.

As he spoke, his secretary received calls from two trekking groups cancelling their reservations.

But what keeps businesses like his afloat are mountaineering expeditions, which are planned years in advance and are not easily cancelled. Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 tallest peaks, including Mount Everest.

But even here, numbers are dwindling. There were 101 expeditions to the mountains in spring last year, and only 65 this year.

And trekkers, who can easily postpone their trips, are doing so in large numbers, those in the industry say.

Thamel, which is usually crowded, has mostly deserted bars and restaurants, and shops selling hiking equipment lie empty.

There were several empty tables one evening this week at the famed mountaineers' hangout, the Rum Doodle Bar, where anyone who has conquered Everest gets a free meal.

"Business is terrible," said Kumar Sharma, one of the managers. "We are down 40 percent from last year."

Still, many hope the industry will receive a fillip in mid-May when Indian school holidays begin. Indian families visit Nepal in droves, for the shopping, sightseeing and casinos.

Chhetri, of the trekking agency, blamed sensationalist reporting for the situation.

"The media makes it seem like landing in Kathmandu is like landing in Iraq," he said.

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Turkey expects to miss target of 26 mln tourists

ANKARA, April 17 (Reuters) - Turkish Tourism Minister Atilla Koc said he does not expect Turkey to meet a target of attracting 26 million tourists this year, after arrivals fell 14 percent in the first quarter. "If extraordinary conditions do not emerge, we will exceed 21 million arrivals this year but cannot reach 26 million," he told reporters at the weekend.

Tourism revenues are a vital source of foreign income for Turkey as it looks to rein in a large current account deficit.

Koc said he hoped arrivals would pick up from March despite political incidents that hurt Turkey's image in Europe as a peaceful holiday destination.

"The tourism sector has had some difficulties because of bird flu, the crisis about cartoons (of the Prophet Mohammad) and the killing of the Italian priest," said Koc.

An outbreak of bird flu killed four people in Turkey at the start of the year, scaring off some tourists. An Italian priest was murdered in Trabzon on the Black Sea coast amid protests against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

"We have put a 25 percent year-on-year growth target in tourist numbers.

This was an ambitious target I determined counting on neighbouring countries Iran, Israel, Syria and Russia," he said.

The Turkish Tourism Investors Association (TYD) said two weeks ago that European tourism bookings for summer holidays to Turkey have fallen 40 percent year-on-year due to foreign factors and a strong currency.

Turkey, with a long coastline and just a short flight from the main European tourist markets, has become a major travel destination in recent years.

A total of 21.1 million people visited Turkey last year, and the government has said it hopes for more than $20 billion in revenues this year.