International tourism body says sector will bounce back
Unfolding evidence of a steady decline in the regional tourism sector is symptomatic of a broader negative impact of the global economic downturn on both mature and emerging tourism industries that will persist in the short to medium term, according to a monitoring body set up recently by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The bleak immediate-term fortunes of the tourism sector are already evident in some of the key Caribbean destinations including Antigua, The Bahamas, Barbados and Jamaica where falling visitor arrivals have forced cuts in hotel and resort staff and have had a knock-on effect in several related sectors including the transportation and hotel industries.
The UNWTO’S Tourism Resilience Committee (TRC) which is tasked with setting guidelines for the sector’s response to its current crisis has said that it is unable to reasonably predict the extent of the likely impact of the crisis on the sector and the pace at which it is likely to recover.
While major regional tourist destinations have seen a significant loss of income resulting from reduced tourist arrivals, lesser patronized destinations like Guyana have seen an even more significant decline in hotel occupancy rates resulting from a further reduction in its already small number of visitor arrivals. Guyana’s major international hotel, the Pegasus, has been up for sale for several months now while ownership of one of the city’s oldest hotels, The Tower, changed hands recently. Other city hotels and at least one of the country’s interior resorts are also up for sale.
The bleak short to medium term projections for the performance of the international tourism sector are attributed to extreme market volatility resulting from the current economic downturn, and declining consumer and business confidence which, according to the TRC began to take its toll on the sector during the latter months of 2008, a trend that set the pace for 2009. The TRC says that unlike previous crises the current downturn is of a global nature and that its impact, which has affected both mature and emerging tourism destinations, is expected to last longer.
According to the TRC, however, the return of economic growth will lead to recovery in the sector and that tourism can and should play a key role in any global response plan.
Meanwhile, the body says that the global uncertainties currently facing the tourism sector require a response from both public and private sector stakeholders that seek to continue and reinforce a more sustainable tourism development culture.
The TRC which met in Madrid last month has issued a set of guidelines for the recovery of the sector which includes greater cooperation among stakeholders in the sector and innovation in areas such as product development, marketing, distribution, human resource development and the coordination of regional and international tourism policies. According to the TRC the sector also needs to enhance its systems for data collection, market intelligence and analysis.