ITB 2003 – Data reported by the 33 member countries of the European Travel Commission (ETC) – some of which measure performance by arrivals and others…
ITB 2003 – Data reported by the 33 member countries of the European Travel Commission (ETC) – some of which measure performance by arrivals and others by overnight volume – show that tourism in 2002 turned out to be better than expected. However, the increase in overnight volume (+0.8 per cent) as against a provisional 3.1 per cent growth in arrivals, confirms that Europeans took more shorter trips last year.
Of the 18 countries supplying arrivals data to the ETC, 14 reported growth ranging from 1 per cent to 14 per cent. The best performers were Turkey, Latvia and Lithuania. The declines were most marked for Cyprus, Slovakia and Malta. Some 17 countries reported overnight trends, which were positive for nine ETC member countries. The Czech Republic suffered the sharpest decline, of 13 per cent, followed by Switzerland (-8 per cent) and Hungary (-6 per cent).
Among Europe`s major destinations, France retained its top slot thanks to a 2 per cent rise in arrivals, and Spain was second with a 3 per cent growth. Italy also recorded an increase – of just 1 per cent.
The UK and Ireland both registered positive growth – +4 per cent for the UK and +2 per cent for Ireland. This followed sharp declines in 2001 as a result of the foot-and-mouth crisis. And it should be noted that the UK`s total visitor count for 2002, of 24.2 million, was still 8 per cent down on 2000`s level.
The Nordic countries experienced different fortunes in 2002. The top Nordic performers were Sweden, up 7 per cent in overnight volume, and Finland (+2 per cent in nights and 3 per cent in arrivals). Norway was up 1 per cent in terms of arrivals, but overnights stagnated, and Denmark suffered a 2 per cent drop.
In conclusion, it is probably true to say that some of Europe`s smaller destinations – and those that offer lower-cost options, such as Turkey,
Croatia and Bulgaria – performed better than the more traditional destinations. Spain`s growth was achieved almost entirely in the last few months of the year. Up to the end of summer 2002 it was well below 2001`s level.
Spain is viewed as a barometer for the rest of the Mediterranean, said Leslie Vella, head of ETC`s research group and Chief Executive of the Malta Tourism Authority, Valletta. When Spain is doing really well, there is enough business for everyone else in the region. When it is struggling – as it did for much of last year – tour operators tend to cut capacity to other smaller Mediterranean points, such as Malta and Cyprus.
Once again, Europe`s inbound tourism performance suffered from a drop in long-haul business in 2002 – particularly the USA and Japan.
Not all destinations have filed their year-end estimates with the ETC but, of those that have, Turkey seems to have fared the worst. Overall, the decline in overnights is likely to prove much worse than that of arrivals. Only one destination, the UK, has enjoyed growth out of the USA (but this, it will be remembered, compares with a double-digit decline from the USA in 2001) and the UK and Sweden are the only European destinations to have enjoyed growth out of Japan.
It should be noted that Japan`s decline overall was much less significant than expected earlier in the year as demand picked up strongly in the last couple of months of 2002.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
