Entire World has the Travel Bug

The Washington Post report that the "The whole world has the travel bug. And it's ravaging the planet."

"The world has shrunk -- and the tourist legions have exploded. The streets of Paris and Venice are so crowded that you can barely move. Cruise ships are filling harbors and disgorging hordes of day trippers the world over. Towering hotels rise in ever-greater numbers along once pristine and empty beaches."

The upshot for meeting planners: finding that special, out-of-the-way place is growing challenge.

People are Traveling!

The UN World Tourism Organization reports that world tourism registered another record in 2006 with 842 million arrivals, a higher than expected growth rate of 4.5%.

Despite downside risks facing global tourism twelve months ago, in particular terrorism, health scares due to avian flu and rising oil prices, 2006 was another year of good growth above the long-term forecast rate of 4.1 per cent, backed up by one of the longest periods of sustained economic expansion,” Secretary General Francesco Frangialli said.

Three years ago, world tourism, which can play a key role in fighting poverty and become a primary tool for sustainable development, began a historically new phase of growth, as it broke the barrier of 800 million international arrivals. It has grown more than 20 per cent since then.

The increase in international tourist arrivals is projected to be around 4 per cent for 2007, much in line with the forecast long-term annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent through 2020, according to UNWTO’s World Tourism Barometer. Growth is expected to be more solid as businesses, consumers, governments and international institutions are now better able to anticipate shocks and to respond more effectively to crises.